The Boston Celtics took care of business on Tuesday night, winning their Game 1 matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 120-95. It was a dominant defensive display paired with two big-time scoring nights from Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.
Here are three things you might have missed.
1. Lockdown defense → Jaylen Brown block
After a relatively shaky first quarter, the Celtics’ defense locked in and shut down the Cavaliers. This Brown block on Donovan Mitchell perfectly encapsulates their play on that end.
Brown and Jrue Holiday switching seamlessly at the top of the key, capped off by a monster block. Just beautiful.
Their defensive connectivity is also on full display in this clip.
Obviously, Jayson Tatum ends the possession with a foul but look at everything before that. The Celtics aren’t switching when it’s their big man in the action (Luke Kornet, in this case). However, Tatum and Derrick White see what’s happening and switch their matchups instead.
2. Jayson Tatum’s sly confidence
White had a huge game, and Tatum was asked about his recent play after the fact. During his response, he slipped in a subtle tidbit about just how good the Celtics are, effectively noting how annoying it must be to play them.
It was small, but it was funny.
“He’s been great. I love the way he’s been playing on both ends of the floor,” Tatum said of White. “It just puts a lot of pressure on the defense tonight and last series. We’ve just got a lot of different ways to win a game, and I would assume that it’s tough for the other team to kinda try and figure that out.”
3. Mike Gorman still gets love
Mike Gorman has called his last Celtics game. But he can’t stay away from the action.
He was in the house for Game 1 against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night, and when they showed him on the jumbotron, it was the loudest pop of the evening. The crowd went ballistic.
