3 lessons Boston Celtics can learn from Pacers to dethrone LeBron James

The Indiana Pacers made LeBron James sweat unlike any Eastern Conference team in recent memory. It is time for the Boston Celtics to follow suit.

Back in April, the Indiana Pacers had little success stopping LeBron James, but they certainly managed to slow down the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Some of it was the Cavaliers underestimating their opponent. Some of it was an unusual bout of missed shots. But make no mistake, the Pacers discovered some gaping flaws in the Cleveland armor.

The Boston Celtics are fortunate in that they possess some of the same tools, and possibly even better tools than the Pacers used to expose those flaws.

Brad Stevens, head coach of the Boston Celtics, is among the most brilliant minds in basketball. It will be up to him to learn from the blueprint Indiana used to push Cleveland to the brink, and perhaps expand upon it using the personnel at his disposal.

Here are the three best ways Stevens can pull that off.