2024 NBA playoffs: Biggest factors that will decide Thunder-Mavericks, Celtics-Cavaliers Round 2 series

The other half of the NBA’s conference semifinal round will begin Tuesday night, when the Cleveland Cavaliers will play in Boston against the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Celtics, while the Dallas Mavericks will bring the Red River Rivalry to the hardwood when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder, the West’s No. 1 seed.

For Cleveland, it marks a return to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2018 — and the first time without LeBron James since 1993. Boston, meanwhile, has now reached the second round of the playoffs seven times in the past eight years and is looking to make it back to the conference finals for a sixth time during that span.

Dallas…