The Cleveland Cavaliers will compete for the championship once again after making their fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals with a win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday night.The Cavs overcame the Celtics with an intense 87-79 victory at TD Garden in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. With both teams protecting their home court throughout the series, the Cavaliers had to dig deep to end Boston's unbeaten home record in these playoffs to make it through. LeBron James produced another special performance as he played all 48 minutes in a do-or-die occasion. He posted 35 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and two blocks to advance to his eighth straight Finals and continue his reign in the east.It will be Cleveland's fourth successive Finals appearance and this remarkable achievement sees them join a select list as they become just the fifth team to accomplish this impressive feat. They join the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and multiple Boston Celtics teams in doing so.After enduring a season full of turmoil, this didn't seem like a possibility as they were a mess both on and off the court for much of the year. At February's trade deadline, they offloaded six players - which included Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose - and acquired four in return - George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Rodney Hood. 

They finished with the number four seed in the east and ended the regular season ranked 29th in defence. 

But with the world's best player at their disposal, anything was possible for the Wine and Gold. James has put them on his back throughout this playoff run and they'll now have an opportunity to claim a second championship. 

"I mean, the bigger the stage, the bigger the player, and he's been doing it for us since we've been here," said head coach Tyronn Lue, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. 

This was LeBron's sixth straight win in a Game 7 and he's now 6-2 all-time in his career. 

Rarity

Throughout the conference finals series, neither team had managed to secure a road win as they were both perfect at home.

The Celtics were 10-0 on their home floor coming into the deciding game and the Cavaliers knew they had to end that in order to advance. 

In their previous three losses in Boston, James got very little help from his supporting cast but a number of them stepped up when it mattered last night. 

Jeff Green filled in well for Kevin Love and dropped 19 points, J.R. Smith added 12 and Tristan Thompson had 10. 

The Ohio-based franchise will now await the winner of the Western Conference Finals as the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets meet for a Game 7 tonight. 

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