BOSTON – The Cavaliers never seemed to have the firepower to keep up with the top-seeded Boston Celtics in a 120-95 loss in Game 1 of a second-round NBA playoffs series Tuesday night at the TD Garden.
The Celtics offense dissected the Cavaliers defense from start to finish in a game that was a stark contrast from the slow slugfest of the Cavs-Magic series.
Donovan Mitchell finished with a game-high 33 points but got little help until it was garbage time in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics were the only team in the NBA to eclipse 60 wins during the regular season, but they were without forward Kristaps Porzingis, a 20-point scorer who is dealing with a calf injury and is expected to miss the entire second round.
Mitchell noted on Sunday that nobody outside of their locker room would be picking the Cavs to win the series — and he’s probably right, as the Celtics pose this group’s greatest challenge over the last few years. The Cavs, though, were riding high after their Game 7 win over the Magic and hoping to steal Game 1, but they’ll have to regroup for Thursday night’s Game 2.
Here’s how Game 1 unfolded.
Donovan Mitchell finished with a game-high 33 points on 12-of-25 shooting from the floor and just about single-handedly kept the Cavs within range for a bit.
The Cavs ended the night shooting 37 of 90 from the floor (41 percent) and just 11 for 42 (26 percent) from 3-point range. Darius Garland had 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White led the way for the Celtics with 32 and 25 points, respectively. Boston ended with 18 3-pointers.
Game 1 is going to go to Boston.
The Celtics attack has simply shredded the Cavs all night. Boston hasn’t seemingly had to do much to get to their spots, and they’ve sent a barrage of 3s the Cavs’ way, hitting 17 from behind the arc.
Jaylen Brown has 32 points. Derrick White has 25. Jayson Tatum has 18. Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard have 14 and 13, respectively. The Celtics offense has been virtually perfect tonight.
And it looks like Mitchell, Garland, Max Strus and Evan Mobley will be done for the night as the Cavs regroup for Game 2 Thursday night.
Jaylen Brown might have already delivered the dagger with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
As the Celtics continued to build on their lead, Brown pulled up and nailed a 3-pointer, extending the Boston lead to 99-79.
With only four seconds left in the third quarter, the Cavs trailed by 12. They were already in danger, but Pritchard’s 3 at the buzzer, a put-back dunk by Luke Kornet and that 3 by Brown suddenly made Boston’s lead feel insurmountable.
Below are updates from the third quarter.
Donovan Mitchell has done everything he can to keep the Cavs at least somewhat within striking distance of the Celtics. He’s got 33 points on 12-of-24 from the floor and has taken a few big shots while driving to the hoop tonight.
What doesn’t help the Cavs: Payton Pritchard sprinting down the floor and burying a 3 from just in front of the Celtics logo at the third quarter buzzer, extending the Celtics lead to 92-77 with only 12 minutes ago.
Mitchell might be able to 1-on-5 the Celtics for a bit and keep pace, but he’ll need a ton of help if the Cavs want to steal Game 1 with a 15-point deficit.
Derrick White is going nuts, and he is single-handedly keeping the Cavs at bay right now.
White is 9 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 11 from 3-point range for a team-high 25 points. After his last 3, Celtics fans began chanting “Der-rick White! Der-rick White”
The only reason the Cavs haven’t yet been buried in Game 1: Donovan Mitchell, who has a game-high 31 points already to go with six rebounds and five assists. As the Celtics faithful began to enter a frenzy with White-mania, Mitchell quickly shot and drilled a 3-pointer to quiet the crowd just a bit and keep the Cavs within 12 of Boston.
Darius Garland has started to find his shot a bit, and he now has 12 points tonight on 5-of-12 shooting.
The Cavs, without question, have been able to operate on the offensive end with a lot more room than they had in the series with the Magic.
But they’ve also struggled to slow down the Celtics attack. Jaylen Brown has had a big night and already has 24 points. Derrick White is 6 of 8 from 3-point range and has 20 points. Jayson Tatum has started to get more involved. Jrue Holiday has knocked down a few big shots. It’s been too much for the Cavs defense to handle in Game 1.
With 5:54 left in the third quarter, the Cavs are trailing 78-64.
Below are updates from the second quarter.
Donovan Mitchell and Isaac Okoro are a combined 10-of-21 shooting from the floor. The rest of the team is 9 of 28.
This is not your father’s Cavs-Magic series, when it felt like the first team to 85 would win the game. This feels more like 115 will be necessary.
Darius Garland and Max Strus are a combined 4-of-14 shooting from the floor, taking out two needed contributors.
Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said before the game that Cleveland would need to prevent the Celtics from getting to their spots. They’ve struggled to do that. The Celtics offense hasn’t looked overly stressed thus far.
Jaylen Brown just hit another jumper and is up to 17 points. Jayson Tatum has been pretty quiet, but the Cavs haven’t been able to disrupt Brown much at all.
Isaac Okoro, in a big way, has saved the Cavs from being in another 18-point hole as they were in Game 7 against the Magic. Okoro has 11 points now, trailing only Donovan Mitchell for the team lead (14).
After opening Game 7 against the Magic 1-for-9 from the floor, Darius Garland opened tonight’s Game 1 just 1-of-7 from the floor.
That’s a major problem for the Cavs, as Donovan Mitchell can’t simply play all 48 minutes every night. When Mitchell is off the floor, they badly need Garland to be able to produce and pick up some of the offensive burden.
But thus far, Garland just hasn’t had it. After his last miss, the sixth of the night, he held the follow through a little longer in frustration.
The Cavs trail the Celtics 42-34.
Below are updates from the first quarter.
The Celtics are shredding the Cavaliers defense and just poured in 40 points in the first quarter to take a 40-34 lead.
Jaylen Brown has had little resistance and has a game-high 15 points.
After the Cavs-Magic series was a drag-em-out slugfest every possession, Game 1 between the Cavs and Celtics has been much more wide open, with both offenses finding plenty of space.
The Cavs have especially seemed to open up more room along their offensive perimeter after any real estate against the Magic was hard to come by. But for the most part, the Cavs offense has been the Donovan Mitchell show, as he has a team-high 14 points.
Darius Garland is still really struggling to get much of anything going and was just 1-for-4 from the floor in the first quarter.
The Cavaliers have erased the Celtics lead and then some, taking a 23-21 lead over Boston with 5:31 left in the first quarter.
And once again, as was the case in Games 6 and 7 against the Magic, Donovan Mitchell is on fire and now has a team-high 10 points. He’s 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and, perhaps the most important aspect, has already hit two 3s after struggling from behind the arc against the Magic.
Jaylen Brown has a game-high 11 points, as those two have largely been going back and forth.
It has been Isaac Okoro, of all options, who has led the Cavs back only a one-point deficit, 16-15.
Okoro drained two 3s and hit a tough layup through contact, and he has a team-high eight points and has the Cavaliers within one point of Boston after a slow start.
Okoro is only in the starting lineup with Jarrett Allen again out with a rib injury.
It’s exactly the kind of start the Cavs were hoping to avoid, one in which the offense looks sluggish and they dig themselves an early hole against the top team in the league.
Just over two minutes into the first quarter, and the Celtics have opened up a 10-2 lead. Jaylen Brown already has seven points via four three-pointers and a 3-pointer.
The Cavs are just 1-for-5 from the floor, with only a Donovan Mitchell layup to show for it so far.
Below is some pregame information.
Donovan Mitchell has long been relatively close with Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum for a while, but he hasn’t spoken with either leading into the series. Once it was clear the Cavs and Celtics could meet in the second round, communication was put on pause.
“We’ve known each other for a while but, at the end of the day, I haven’t talked to him or JT once there was a possibility we could play, because at the end of the day it’s business,” Mitchell said at the team’s shootaround at the TD Garden in Boston Tuesday morning.
Cavaliers-Celtics series preview, stats
The Cavs will have their work cut out for them to take down the beasts of the East. Here are three keys to the series for Cleveland.
Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Game 1, series predictions and betting odds
Beacon Journal writers Ryan Lewis and Nate Ulrich went 7-0 picking games during the Cavs-Magic series. Here, you can find their predictions for both Game 1 against the Celtics and for the second-round series.
For strictly entertainment purposes only, the Cavaliers enter Game 1 as 11.5-point underdogs against the Celtics, according to the MGM Sportsbook. The game has an over/under point total of 208.5 points, a bit higher than any game of the Cavs’ first round series.
How can I watch, stream or listen to Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Game 1?
Tuesday night’s Game 1 will be broadcast nationally on TNT. It will be broadcast locally on the radio via WTAM (1100-AM), WMMS (100.7-FM) and WNZN (89.1-FM).
Jarrett Allen injury update – is he playing tonight against the Celtics in Game 1?
Cavs center Jarrett Allen is out for Game 1.
He missed the final three games of the series against the Magic with bruised ribs, and he’s still working his way back to being able to play. Allen has repeatedly tried to give it a go, but the Cavs have also needed to balance how effective he can be with the injury considering his raising his arms above his head has been the issue.
Forward Dean Wade has already been ruled out for Game 1. He has yet to appear in the playoffs for the Cavs with a knee injury, but he was on the floor during shootaround in practice.
Donovan Mitchell stats in NBA playoffs vs. the Magic
Donovan Mitchell is coming off a herculean effort, particularly in Games 6 and 7 against the Orlando Magic in which he poured in a combined 89 points.
It was the second-most points in Games 6 and 7 of a playoff series behind only Allen Iverson’s 90 in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron James’ best in that regard was 81 points in 2018.
Overall for the first-round series, Mitchell averaged 28.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and 25 percent from 3-point range.
When did the Cavaliers last win an NBA playoffs series without LeBron James?
Before they beat the Magic Sunday in Game 7, the Cavs had not won a playoff series without LeBron James on the roster since 1993. That was Lenny Wilkens’ final season as Cavs coach. With Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance Sr. and Mark Price leading the way, the Cavs won their first-round, best-of-five series 3-2 over the Nets before being swept in four games by Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
When is Cavaliers-Celtics Game 2?
Game 2 between the Cavaliers and Boston Celtics will have a 7:00 pm tip-off time Tuesday night. Game 3, in Cleveland, will begin at 8:30 pm Saturday night.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.
