Donovan Mitchell led a scoring party this Thursday with 29 points. the Cleveland Cavaliers, who defeated the Celtics 118-94 at the TD Garden in Boston to tie the series 1-1 second round of the NBA East playoffs.
After losing the first game of the series decisively, the Cavaliers returned to the TD Garden and responded with an unquestionable performance on both sides of the court, with 54.7% accuracy in field goals, 46.4% from the arc and six players above ten points.
Mitchell had his third game with more than 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. He scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half and was supported by a brilliant Evan Mobley, whose 21 points were his best in the postseason. The center also contributed 10 rebounds and 5 assists. In the fifth straight game without Jarrett Allen, out due to a rib problem, Mobley made a valuable contribution in the paint on a night in which Caris LeVert had 21 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.
The Cavs scored thirteen three-pointers and only conceded 94 points to the Celtics who were a modest 8 of 35 from the arc.
Jayson Tatum was Boston’s top scorer with 25 points and Jaylen Brown scored 19, while Jrue Holiday had no more than 4 points. Without the Latvian Kristaps Porzingis, the Dominican Al Horford started in Joe Mazzulla’s quintet and scored 11 points, with 2 rebounds.
The Celtics, absolute dominators of the regular season with the best winning record (64-18), had only lost five games at home this season. They lost four times in the regular season and once in the playoffs. Also in that case, they lost the second game of the series, later winning 4-1 against the Miami Heat.
But the Cavaliers gave themselves a chance with their great performance tonight, especially thanks to a spectacular third period that ended 36-24. Mitchell scored 16 points in that third quarter, with a perfect three-of-three that raised the Cavs’ lead to fourteen points at 86-72. The margin reached 29 points in the fourth periodagainst a Celtics incapable of reacting and too focused on looking for triples, despite their modest percentages on the night of the TD Garden.
After a flagrant type one foul called on Tatum, with the Cavaliers ahead 111-87 with 4.58 minutes left, dozens of Celtics fans left their seats and left the stadium. Joe Mazzulla himself virtually threw in the towel by removing all his starters from the court and giving way to the substitutes, with his sights already set on the third game, set this Saturday in Cleveland.
The winner of this series will face one between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, with the New Yorkers ahead 2-0 after the first two games played at Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple.
2024-05-10 02:20:43
#Cavs #storm #Garden
