Cavs get big comeback win over Celtics

On Monday night, the Cavs hosted the Boston Celtics, and just like two other games this season against Boston, the game went into overtime, and like those other two games, the Cavs came out on top.

Cleveland(41-26) overcame a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Celtics 118-114 in OT at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

With the win, the Cavs won the season series (3-1) against the Celtics. Boston(45-21), who was on the second half of a back-to-back after falling to the Knicks on Sunday, was without Jayson Tatum(knee) and Al Horford(back).

Here’s the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ win over the Celtics.

The Great:

Donovan Mitchell did not shoot(14/34 FG) well, but he did have a game-high 40 points and grabbed a season-high tying 11 rebounds and four assists. Mitchell was relentless! He gave the Cavs their first lead since the first quarter with 24.7 to go in regulation, and Mitchell made the game-tying free throws that sent the game to OT.

Evan Mobley did Evan Mobley-type things. He scored 25 points, had a game-high 17 rebounds, and three blocks. This was Mobley’s third straight double-double and his 20th double-double of the season.

Darius Garland, like Mitchell and Mobley, Garland had a double-double with 17 points, five rebounds, and 12 assists.

Lamar Stevens was great!! In only 17 minutes of action, Stevens had eight points and eight rebounds(career-high six offensive rebounds; five of the offensive rebounds came in the fourth). Additionally, he gave Cleveland the lead for good when he made a corner three in OT to make it 114-112 with just over two minutes to go. They don’t win without Stevens.

Fourth Quarter: Cleveland trailed 92-78 heading into the fourth, and after playing sluggish throughout, the Cavs finally woke up. Cleveland outscored Boston 31-17 in the final stanza, holding Boston to 25% shooting from the field.

They also got a little help from Grant Williams. With 0.8 seconds left in regulation and the game tied at 109, Williams had an opportunity to win the game for Boston, but he missed both free throws, and the Cavs had life!

Not So Great:

The first three quarters were awful, and they did have 15 turnovers, but we’ll cut the Cavs some slack today.

Bottom Line:

This would have been a bad loss because of what Boston was missing, but it turned out to be a good for the Cavs. One thing about this team is they don’t quit. In fact, this was Cleveland’s 13th victory when trailing by 10 points or more, so again, they don’t quit.

The reason they don’t quit is Mitchell. He has a never say die attitude, and he willed this team to victory, and with the way the fifth-seeded Knicks(9 straight wins) are playing, the fourth-seeded Cavs have little margin for error.

What’s Next:

Cleveland begins a four-game road trip on Wednesday night with two games in Miami against the Heat, and they finish it off with two games in Charlotte against the Hornets.

Best of the Rest:

-Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 32 points, 13 rebounds, and a season-high nine assists. Malcolm Brogdon had 24 points off the bench.

-Cleveland is 7-0 in OT games this season.

-According to Elias Sports, the Cavs have never had three overtime wins against a single opponent in the same season until this season (3 OT wins vs. Boston).