Seventeen wins of their first 20 video games of the season absolutely had the Cleveland Cavaliers feeling good about internet hosting the defending champion Boston Celtics on Sunday evening.
Though Boston was coming to city using a seven-game profitable streak, it was with out two of its prime gamers in Jaylen Brown (sickness) and Derrick White (foot) and had simply gone by a 138-129 slugfest in opposition to the Bulls in Chicago two nights earlier.
Cleveland had the proper alternative to get some revenge in opposition to the Celtics, and it didn’t let it slip.
The Cavaliers tagged Boston with its first loss since Nov. 12, pulling off a 115-111 victory after going through a 12-point deficit with 8:09 remaining within the fourth quarter.
And Cleveland followers ought to savor each little bit of this win, as a result of the Cavaliers merely aren’t on the Celtics’ stage—it doesn’t matter what the scoreboard mentioned on Sunday.
When these two groups met two weeks in the past, it was Cleveland that was short-handed, as Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert and Dean Wade have been all lacking from a 120-117 loss that ended the Cavaliers’ season-opening, 15-game profitable streak.
Cleveland was additionally held down by Darius Garland, who went 3-for-21 from the sphere within the Nov. 19 assembly.
We’ve got but to see Boston and the Cavaliers go at one another at full power, however what we are able to inform you is that Brown and White transfer the needle way over Okoro, LeVert and Wade do. The Celtics have been coping with way more adversity throughout their loss on Sunday than Cleveland needed to put up with throughout its setback in mid-November.
It additionally took a superhuman efficiency from Donovan Mitchell to get the Cavaliers to stage the season sequence with Boston at 1-1. Mitchell erupted for 20 factors on 6-of-6 taking pictures from the sphere and 4-of-4 taking pictures from 3-point vary within the fourth quarter. He fairly actually wanted to be good to ensure Cleveland bought the win.
Spectacular? Sure. However such a efficiency solely received the Cavaliers the battle, not the conflict.
Whereas necessary, Sunday’s sport received’t be on anybody’s thoughts if Cleveland have been to collide with the Celtics at any level through the playoffs, particularly if that get-together occurs within the Jap Convention finals. At that time, it’s a seven-game sequence. And if each groups are totally wholesome, Boston isn’t letting the Cavaliers get to 4 wins earlier than it does.
Cleveland is a regular-season workforce till it could possibly show in any other case. The Cavaliers have two playoff berths over the earlier six seasons, getting bounced within the first spherical of the postseason in 2023 earlier than falling within the Jap Convention semifinals—by the hands of the Celtics—this previous spring.
Over those self same six seasons, Boston has made two journeys to the Finals, two extra journeys to the Jap Convention Finals, and one other to the semis. It suffered a first-round exit in 2021.
This Celtics workforce is particular. Don’t let one loss make you neglect that Boston is drilling 19.1 threes an evening, has 5 scorers averaging at the least 16.0 factors per contest and hasn’t dropped three video games in a row because the 2023 playoffs.
So rejoice now, Cleveland. There received’t be any purpose to in six months.
