The Cleveland Cavaliers have been waiting around for over a week to find out who they would play in the Eastern Conference Finals. After Monday night, they know they will be traveling to take on the Boston Celtics in a series beginning on Wednesday night. While the confident Cavs will likely feel as if they have a good chance to keep up their winning ways in Boston, they probably won't be thrilled to be running into their old friend Kelly Olynyk once again.
A history with Olynyk
The Boston Celtics' run in the 2015 NBA Playoffs was brief, but Olynyk certainly made his mark.
During Game 4 of the first round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the big man found himself entangled with Cavs forward Kevin Love. They were both going for a loose ball, but in the eyes of some, the Celtics forward was doing much more than that - to some he was aiming to injury one of the Cavs' best players.
Love immediately ran to the locker room, later learning that he had a dislocated left shoulder that would sideline him for the remainder of the playoffs. The Cavaliers would wind up faltering short of their goal of an NBA championship, which may have been a direct result of not having Love on the floor. Love accused his counterpart of a "bush league" play. Olynyk was suspended for the start of the following season and has since struggled to shake the reputation of being a dirty player.
Water under the bridge?
One could possibly think that, at this point, Love probably forgives Olynyk. After all, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA title last season. While their goal was delayed by a year, they ultimately accomplished it, reaching the pinnacle of the sport. Regardless of injury woes or struggles, nobody can ever take that accomplishment away from Love.
Something about the playoffs usually revives even the deadest of feuds, though. Intensity is always high, with a trip to the NBA Finals at stake. Additionally, teams face each other anywhere between four and seven consecutive games, so rivalries really have the fuel to fester over the course of a series. Olynyk has already been accused of doing dirty work during this postseason, so the narrative exists.
A prediction: the Cavaliers have not forgotten about what happened two years ago. It may not be in Game 1 or Game 2, but at some point during the Eastern Conference Finals, at least one Cavs player will target Olynyk and remind him of the havoc he once wrought on Cleveland.
