The Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers will play each other in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA Playoffs for the ninth time.

With a victory over the Magic in Game 7 on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland, the Cavaliers punched their ticket to the next round. Since winning Game 5 of their series against the Miami Heat in a landslide on Wednesday night, Boston has been waiting.

TD Garden will host Game 1 of the Celtics vs. Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

Cavaliers at Celtics during the regular season

Throughout the regular season, the home team prevailed in all three meetings between the Celtics and the Cavaliers, winning two of them.

In mid-December, the teams traveled to Boston for two games over the course of three nights, with the Celtics winning both games. In the first game, all five Boston starters scored in double digits, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the way with 25 points apiece. Both teams had good three-point shooting percentages (40.9 percent for Boston and 42.2 percent for Cleveland). The Celtics’ offensive strategy that night included more than just the three-ball, as Tatum and Brown each reached the free-throw line nine times. Cleveland only had nine free throws and six makes in the charity stripe, while Boston went an incredible 26 for 26.

With 21 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks in that game, Kristaps Porzingis was a major asset for Boston. A few nights later, Tatum led the C’s to a 116-107 victory with a team-high 27 points. He scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Donovan Mitchell of Cleveland scored the most points (30) despite the team’s defeat.

On March 5 at the Rocket Mortgage Field House, Cleveland defeated Boston for the only time, and it was a significant victory for the Cavaliers. Arriving on an 11-game winning streak and fresh off a 53-point victory over the Warriors, the Cavaliers decisively ended the Celtics’ winning run by rallying from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

That night, Dean Wade—not Dwyane Wade—scored 20 points with five three-pointers in the fourth quarter to lead the Cavaliers to an incredible victory. Wade outscored the Celtics on his own. Despite letting up in the last quarter and only scoring 17 points, the Celtics still had a chance to win.

As time ran out and Tatum gained possession of the ball, he looked to foul Darius Garland while he was trying to make a game-winning (you guessed it) fadeaway. However, the Cavs contested the call, and referees overturned it after determining that Tatum’s leg, not Garland’s, was what made contact.

Despite Mitchell not playing and Evan Mobley departing the game early due to an ankle injury, the Cavaliers prevailed, 105-104.

Stats from the Celtics-Cavaliers regular season

With an average of 26 points per game during the regular season, Tatum spearheaded the Celtics’ offensive attack against the Cavaliers. However, he wasn’t particularly effective versus Cleveland, hitting only 35.7 percent from three and 38.7 percent overall. To score those 26 points in a game, he need 20.7 shot attempts.

Against the Cavs, Brown scored 22.7 points per game during the regular season, which put him second on the Celtics, but he was far more effective as he connected on 49.1 percent of his attempts. Brown’s three-ball was not as effective; he hit it at a pace of only 35.3 percent.

However, the Boston backcourt proved unstoppable from downtown against the Cavaliers, as Derrick White made 50% of his three-pointers and Jrue Holiday connected on 42.9 percent of his long-range attempts. After scoring 63 points in the previous two games versus Miami and shooting 57.7 percent for the series, White is currently on fire.

The Celtics will obviously be without Porzingis for this series, which means they will be depleted of manpower up front against a very skilled Cleveland frontcourt. In his three games against the Cavs, he averaged 21 points and eight rebounds, but now it will be up to Al Horford to step up in the paint.

During the regular season, the Celtics averaged 120.6 points per game; but, in their three games versus the Cavaliers, they only managed 113.3.

In his two games versus Boston, Mitchell was quite effective, averaging 30 points on 50% shooting. With 20.7 points and 7.0 assists per game, Garland was a menace, and Caris LeVert is a potent scorer who averaged 15.7 points on 48.6 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from three-point range in his three games versus Boston.

Just to let Boston supporters know, Max Strus, who was extremely bothersome against them during his two previous postseasons as a member of the Heat, will now be trying to do the same thing as a Cavalier.

By no means will Boston have an easy series, especially without Porzingis and up against a very stingy Cleveland defense. Mitchell also has the ability to take over a game at any time. It will be exciting to see the backcourt competition, especially if Joe Mazzulla puts Holiday in the game.

However, the Celtics had a few nights off before this match began and were confined on Wednesday night. With that, they should be able to defeat the Cavs in five or six games and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third consecutive year.

Cavaliers against. Celtics postseason pastAlthough the Cavaliers have won the last three encounters, the Celtics and Cavaliers have split their previous eight postseason games: a first-round sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017 and 2018, as well as in 2015. When these two teams last faced off, Brown was in his second NBA season and Tatum was a rookie. The Celtics narrowly missed making it to the NBA Finals. (Where the Warriors would have smoked them.)

In those three prior meetings, the Cavaliers did have a player by the name of LeBron, and it definitely helped them win.

In the postseason, the Cavaliers were defeated by the Celtics in 1976, 1985, 2008, and 2010. Every time Boston defeated the Cavaliers in the postseason, they advanced to the NBA Finals and took home titles in 1976 and 2008.