#1- Mitchell and Tatum erupt in second half
The first half was not kind to either of the game’s two biggest stars. Jayson Tatum was 1-of-5 on 3-point attempts and 4-of-12 from the field for 12 points in the first half, while Donovan Mitchell was struggling to generate any kind of success, shooting 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-4 from the line, managing just five points and two assists.
The opening minutes of the second half told another story, one where the stars shined brightest, taking over the game on the way to an entertaining finish between the top-2 teams of the East.
Tatum and Mitchell traded threes right out of the gate, followed by a successful trip to the line for Tatum and an acrobatic layup from Mitchell. Tatum scored Boston’s first eight points of that quarter, completely taking over the third with 17 of his 33 points on 6-of-8 shooting, converting on all three of his 3-point attempts.
Then, Mitchell took over (more on that in a bit). It was the kind of takeover that warrants a shrug of the shoulders, and maybe a prayer. We’ve seen it before, we’ll see it again. When Mitchell gets a favorable switch and space to operate, the best you can do is stay in front, get a hand up and hope that stepback doesn’t prove lethal. On Sunday night, it did, and it was just enough to hand the Celtics their first loss in 19 days.
#2- Tatum continues to hunt Garland
Jayson really likes the Darius Garland matchup. It was evident in their NBA Cup matchup, when the Celtics narrowed in on hunting the Cavs guard as he struggled through a major off-night on the offensive end. It came back around in the rematch.
In two games and five minutes of matchup time, Tatum has scored more points over Garland than any other matchup he’s faced this season, shooting 8-of-19 for 18 points on those switches. It played a big part in Tatum’s second half showing, where five of his eight field goals came on the Garland switch.
Tatum scored 11 points over Garland in the second half, seven of which came in the third quarter. He particularly liked putting Garland on an island near the left elbow, where Tatum bullied the 6-foot-1 guard.
It all led to one last faceoff between the two with 50 seconds left and the Cavaliers leading 103-101. Tatum once again got the matchup he wanted, crossing over to his right hand and putting his shoulder into Garland for a quality layup attempt that bounced off the rim and out.
That’s a shot Tatum won’t miss often, but in this case, it was a back-breaking result on a play where Tatum did everything right on a favorable matchup.
#3- Pritchard outduels Jerome in battle of 6MOTY competitors
Payton Pritchard is considered the betting man’s favorite to win the 6th Man of the Year award this season, and rightfully so. That hasn’t stopped Cleveland fans from emphatically throwing “For Your Consideration” campaigns out into the social mediasphere for UVA product Ty Jerome.
In a battle of top-tier bench scorers, what started as a slow night for all involved soon turned into another productive outing from Pritchard, who shook off a 2-for-8 first half with 19 second half points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter. Jerome, meanwhile, played just 11 minutes and finished with six points on 1-of-4 shooting. It was his third-shortest appearance in the rotation this season.
Early in the third, that matchup was on full display, with Pritchard driving past Jerome on two occasions, both ending in layups.
At the end, with the Celtics playing from behind, Pritchard kept hope alive with his free throw shooting, along with a step-back three with 15 seconds left. It was Pritchard’s third straight game of 20+ points.
#4- Drew Peterson cracks the rotation
Entering Sunday night, Drew Peterson had just 30 minutes on an NBA floor, seven of which came this season. Against Cleveland, Peterson finished with 25 minutes, second most off the bench behind Payton Pritchard.
With the team shorthanded and on the first night of a back-to-back, Joe Mazzulla turned to the forward on a two-way contract, and he held his own, finishing with eight points on 2-of-6 shooting, four rebounds and one steal.
While initially tentative with the ball, Peterson eventually found some confidence to fire, drilling one off-the-catch three in the second quarter and another in the third quarter off a drive-and-kick play from Jayson Tatum.
Peterson played some capable defense, particularly on one possession where he stayed in front of Mitchell and drew an offensive foul with 7:16 left in the game.
With 7 seconds left, his efforts face-guarding Darius Garland on an inbounds play shouldn’t go unnoticed. His defense helped force Cleveland to use a timeout, and it displayed some nice effort from a player making his minutes count.
His night wasn’t anything spectacular, but Peterson held his own when given the chance, making it one of the more interesting narratives of the game.
#5- Celtics struggle to score in the paint
It was a tough night inside the restricted area for the Celtics, who shot just 44% inside of 4 feet. A lot of those struggles came from Jrue Holiday (1-for-4 inside of 4 feet) and Jayson Tatum (2-for-6), who had few issues getting into those looks, but struggled to convert.
It was an especially tough night for Holiday, who shot 2-of-9 overall and found himself trapped in awkward spots around the hoop on multiple occasions.
Being without two effective play finishers in Brown and White didn’t help matters, but the interior presence of Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and even Isaac Okoro thwarted many of Boston’s attacks to the rim, making it an off night for a Celtics team that’s been effective converting from close range.
#6- Cavs successfully attacked the paint
On the flip side of the last takeaway, Cleveland was much more effective in its looks near the hoop, finishing on 54% of those looks and 50% between 4-14 feet. It’s by no means an elite figure, but down the stretch, it was an area the Cavs were successfully able to convert on.
Coming off three consecutive threes in the midst of his fourth quarter heater, Mitchell broke the tie with an 8-foot floater off a Horford switch, and then found Okoro on the roll that ended in a layoff to a cutting Mobley for a two-possession lead.
Boston’s pre-Porzingis games shared a common occurrence of questionable rim protection, but it was again an area the Cavs preyed on down the stretch that helped them pull off the win.
#7- Mazzulla sticks with an eight-man rotation (mostly)
Aside from a 7-second appearance from Jaden Springer late in the game, the Celtics stuck with an eight-man rotation with two starters down. It meant 30+ minutes for both Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, who both could get some rest for the tail-end of the team’s back-to-back.
With Drew Peterson, Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard featured off the bench, we saw the team mostly rely on a combination of double-big lineups, starting with the Porzingis/Horford pairing before expanding off into Kornet/Horford and Kornet/Porzingis frontcourts.
The most successful combination was the starting five of Holiday/Hauser/Tatum/Horford/Porzingis, which played a team-high 11:53 and finished a +7 and shot 8-of-15 from beyond the arc thanks to respectable shooting nights from Hauser, Tatum and Porzingis. It’s a lineup that makes sense as a potential playoff rotation, and one worth keeping an eye on with Porzingis back on the floor.
#8- Fourth quarter defense gives up 43 points
Boston’s fourth quarter defense has been middling this season, sporting a 112.2 defensive rating in the quarter (16th in the league). Late-game free throws certainly played a role last night, but Boston’s defense struggled to keep up with Mitchell’s scorching heater and the gravity that came with it, and the Cavs closed a 12-point gap to take the lead with 1:07 left.
There’s only so much they could do when Mitchell’s connecting off his step-back, which beat Sam Hauser twice in the fourth quarter.
Without White or Brown to offer aid on that assignment, it’s hard to be too pressed about it, but a 43-point quarter given up in a four-point game is a tough pill to swallow for the league’s eighth-best defense.
#9- Cavs win the foul game
The pace of play slowed to an absolute halt in the final 34 seconds of the fourth quarter, after Evan Mobley cut from the dunker spot and delivered a dunk that set the Cavaliers up with a four-point lead. From there, those final seconds turned into nearly 20 minutes of real time, as the Celtics and Cavs challenged each other to a good ol’ fashioned free throw bonanza.
Neither team flinched under the pressure, with the Celtics shooting 7-for-7 before an intentional Pritchard miss resulted in a lane violation. The Cavaliers never slipped up in their own right, hitting all 10 of their attempts to ice the game and hold on for the win. Despite an off-night at the line from Mitchell, Cleveland was able to take advantage of their attempts, shooting 20-of-25 (80%) for the night, a slight uptick from their 79% shooting for the season.
The Celtics kept the door open at a possible last-gasp opportunity to extend or win the game with their own execution, but the Cavaliers were proficient at the charity stripe when it mattered most.
#10- Derrick White’s fourth quarter heroics were missed
It can’t be overstated how vital Derrick White is to Boston’s clutch execution. Well, maybe it can be overstated, but that’s just an indication of how outrageously effective White is with the game going down to the wire.
The Celtics are 7-3 in games that reach clutch minutes featuring White, who is a +18 and shoots 50% from three in those situations. In general, the Celtics are 6-4 without White on the floor in the past two seasons. Those four losses were by a combined 14 points.
Whether it’s a well-timed 3-pointer, a show-stopping block, or a drive-and-kick pass that forces a rotation, when White plays late in the game, the Celtics just execute better.
