The Cleveland Cavaliers finally won their first road game of the NBA playoffs, defeating the Boston Celtics and TD Garden 118-94 in Game 2 of their second-round Eastern Conference series. The series is tied 1–1 heading into Saturday’s Game 3 in Cleveland.
Early on, it looked like the Cavs could win a playoff game without Donovan Mitchell scoring most of their points. After averaging 39 points in Cleveland’s last three playoff games, Mitchell had just six points at halftime. But he took over in the second half, scoring 16 in the third quarter and 29 for the game.
Cleveland outscored the Celtics 64-40 in the second half. With about five minutes left in the game, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla agreed and placed most of his bench on the court while the home fans filed out.
The Cavaliers quickly erased a slow start
The Cavs trailed by nine points in the first quarter, but Evan Mobley’s 11 points, aided by six off the bench from Carys Levert, fueled an 11-0 run. Cleveland led 30-24 at the end of the quarter and Boston silenced the crowd.
With Mitchell and Darius Garland not looking for their shots, Boston came back in the second quarter as Mobley and LeVert went cold. Jayson Tatum led all first-half scorers with 16 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists, despite shooting 3-for-10 from the field. Al Horford’s 11 points (4-for-5 shooting on 3-pointers) helped the rally, which resulted in a 19-3 Celtics run and a 54-54 halftime tie.
Mobley’s scoring was slowed by foul trouble, but he still finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. LeVert provided a boost as Mitchell and Garland combined for 21 points and six rebounds as they warmed up. Garland added 14 points and Isaac Okoro and Max Strauss added 12 points each.
Tatum totaled 25 points for the Celtics, but shot 7-for-17 from the field. No one else in Boston’s lineup shot better. Derrick White managed 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting (including 1-of-8). Jaylen Brown had a great shooting night, scoring 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
The Cavs’ 3s are finally starting to go down
Outside shooting has been an issue for the Cavaliers during the playoffs, but they got a 3-point shooting breakthrough in Game 3. Cleveland shot 46 percent (13-of-28) from behind the arc, led by Mitchell’s 5-of-7 performance. 4-for-5 performance with Garland. Struss added two more from 3-point range, while Mobley and Okoro each hit one.
Meanwhile, the Celtics struggled to shoot Thursday night. Boston made 23 percent of its 3-point attempts, 8-of-35. Besides White’s 1-for-8 night, Brown shot 0-for-6 and Jrue Holiday 0-for-2 as he continued his postseason struggles.
Jared Allen missed his fifth straight playoff game for the Cavs with a right rib injury, while Kristaps Porzingis has been out for the Celtics’ past two games with a calf injury.
Game 3 of Celtics-Cavaliers is scheduled for Saturday in Cleveland. It airs on ABC at 8:30pm ET.
