Cavs, Celtics set to trade shoves

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

LeBron James’ famed right elbow won’t be the only one drawing attention.

Bitter enemies, the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers are about to exchange elbows, shoves, insults and baskets in the NBA playoffs.

This reunion won’t be peaceful.

“We don’t like them, they don’t like us,” Cavaliers guard Mo Williams said. “It’s obvious.”

It’s on. Again.

For the second time in three years, the Cavaliers and Celtics will meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals, renewing a sweltering rivalry that has grown with intensity and will be ratcheted up to a new extreme when the clubs open the best-of-seven series tonight beneath a fire-spewing scoreboard inside Quicken Loans Arena.

Forget the buzzer.

Maybe a ring-side bell would be better to signal the end of each quarter.

“It’s going to be a good heavyweight fight,” Boston’s Paul Pierce said.

The Celtics and Cavs, who played a knock-down-drag-out series won by Boston in seven games two years ago, have been pummeling each other for some time.

A few years back, Pierce spit in the direction of Cleveland’s bench during an exhibition game. Last October, the teams got into a minor fracas during a preseason game in Columbus when Williams retaliated with an elbow after being flung to the floor by Celtics forward Shelden Williams, who just happens to be the brother-in-law of Cleveland forward Anthony Parker.

Even James’ mom, Gloria, once got into it with Pierce, screaming at him after he wrapped up her baby boy on a breakaway dunk during the 2008 playoffs.

Tempers flared during the team’s previous meeting on April 4. Down by 22 points in the third quarter, the Cavaliers stormed back before losing 117-113 in a game that featured six technical fouls, the ejection of Cavs coach Mike Brown and some animated, R-rated trash talk between James and Boston’s Kevin Garnett and Tony Allen.

“They do a lot of talking,” James said. “At some point in time they back it up, too. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a really fun, really physical series.”

James is entering the series with an injured right elbow that he says has been bothering him on and off for weeks. An MRI exam revealed a sprain and bone bruise, and James will wear a padded, protective sleeve to help absorb any contact.