The Celtics and Cavaliers last met in playoffs in 2018. This time Boston is the team to beat

BOSTON (AP) — One of the things Celtics forward Jaylen Brown remembers about his time inside the NBA’s Florida bubble in 2020 during the pandemic was his random sightings of Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell, then with the Utah Jazz, seemed to pop up in the common spaces of the bubble at the same time as Brown. It led to humorous fodder on social media between the pair and helped form a friendship between the young stars that continues today.

But none of that is on Brown’s mind this week as the East’s top-seeded Celtics prepare to open their second-round series with Mitchell’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Ain’t no friends in the playoffs,” Brown said. “You’ve just got to get ready to play. That’s all I have to say on that.”

Mitchell, who also calls Boston All-Star Jayson Tatum a friend, said he stopped talking to them when the bracket was finalized.