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On Wednesday night, the Cavs(39-26) headed to Boston to battle the Celtics(45-18).
The game was close in first half, but Boston exploded in the third and survived a furious rally from the Cavs in the fourth to win 117-113.
Cleveland has now lost four of five, while the Celtics have won four of five. Boston beat Cleveland for the time in three matchups this season.
The two teams will meet again in Cleveland for the final time this season on Monday night.
Here’s The Great, Not So Great, and The Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss over Boston.
The Great:
Donovan Mitchell left it all on the court against the Celtics. In 44 minutes of action, he scored 29 of his game-high 44 points in the second half. He was 17/32 from the floor and made four threes. Mitchell tried his best to secure the win, but his best was not good enough.
Mitchell, who played 23 of a possible 24 minutes in the second half, added four rebounds and five assists.
Darius Garland had a good night for the Cavs. He finished with 29 points(11/19 FG, 5/9 3-PT FG) and nine assists. Garland made things interesting down the stretch, scoring 15 points in the fourth.
The Cavs’ backcourt scored 73 of the team’s 113 points.
Not So Great:
Third Quarter: The Celtics led 55-52 at halftime, but the Celtics took over in the third. Boston started the third on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 62-52, and they went on a 19-9 run to push their lead to 20. Boston had their largest lead of 21 and outscored the Cavs 41-26 in the third.
Jayson Tatum scored 18 of his 41 points in the quarter, and the Celtics shot 61% from the field and were 6/7 from deep.
Boston took a 96-78 lead into the fourth.
Free Throw Shooting: Cleveland shot 13/21(62%) from the charity stripe. They have to be better at the line.
Bench: Cleveland has to get more from its bench. The Cavs got only 14 points off the bench against the Celtics. Currently, the Cavs are 28th in the NBA in bench points.
They will need to get more from the second unit going forward.
Bottom Line:
