BOSTON – Everyone knew the deal. The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Tuesday’s game against the reigning champions with a 15-0 record, their second-best start to a season ever, and it was an NBA Cup game to boot.
“We knew it,” Boston Celtics guard Derrick White said. “Everyone knew.”
Before a national television audience, the Celtics reminded the Cavaliers that the Eastern Conference still runs through Boston. They made five of their first eight three-point attempts, took an 18-8 lead midway through the first quarter and never trailed again in a 120-117 win. Cleveland never stopped.
Boston pushed the lead to 65-48 by halftime, making nine more 3-pointers on 11 attempts in the second quarter. We might call it a barrage if it wasn’t so expected. This is what the Celtics do. Their 51.1 three-point attempts lead the league at nearly six per game. Even with a mediocre conversion rate, they sink almost 20 times per night. Make it Tuesday the 22nd. You better keep track if you ever want that math to work in your favor.
The Cavs couldn’t do that. They shot 10-for-29 from deep, climbing uphill all night long. This was a deviation from their norm. They play faster and with more freedom under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who learned during his time with the Golden State Warriors that the ball should never stick.
Except against Boston. “Not great,” Atkinson said of his team’s preparedness.
“The first thing we learned was the strength and physicality,” he added. “They had strength and physicality in the playoffs; we had strength and physicality in the regular season. And that’s why we were down 17 at the half.”
They responded in the second half, cutting a 21-point deficit to 86-84 in seven minutes of the third quarter. Part of it was the Celtics settling for contested 3s, instead of creating open 3s. It was mainly the Cavaliers who hit the paint. Whether it was Donovan Mitchell taking Neemias Queta off the dribble or Cleveland’s bigs posting smaller defenders, the Cavs outscored Boston domestically 60-36.
Credit to Cleveland for not giving up on the undefeated record, but the Celtics also answered that call.
“It’s simple, we just focused on defense,” said Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. “We’ve been in that situation a million times where it’s time to win.”
So they did, which could be interpreted as a bad sign for the Cavaliers, who took this game as a measure of their seriousness as a contender. But Evan Mobley drew a different conclusion.
“From what I saw out there, we could beat anyone,” Cleveland’s rising star said.
Is that feeling different from last year, when Boston ousted Cleveland in a second-round playoff series?
“Not really, to be honest,” added Mobley (22 points, 11 rebounds). “It felt the same last year. We were there. We lost the series, but most of the games we were with them the whole time.”
Can beat the Celtics and shall Beating the Celtics are two different things. For as much positivity as the Cavaliers take from their first loss of the season, there’s this: Boston will soon re-sign All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis, who unlocks a new dimension for a team that largely won a title without him .
The Celtics assigned Porzingis to their G League affiliate on Monday. Instead of sending him to Maine, they brought the entire development team to Porzingis so he could simulate serious game action for the first time since his surgery, sources told Yahoo Sports. Those in attendance were pleased with his performance, which is a) to be expected from anyone passing on this information and b) better than the alternative.
Be that as it may, Porzingis’ return is now a matter of weeks, not months, even though he may not be available when these two teams meet again on December 1. That’s the next benchmark. This one fell short for the Cavs, who look different from last season and yet are still a level below the fully healthy version of the reigning champs.
