The Cavaliers conclude their brutal three games in four days road trip to Miami, Orlando, and Boston with a rematch against the Celtics. The Celtics are now 11-0 in the Garden after beating the shorthanded Cavaliers 120-113 Tuesday night.
The Cavs will put the same team on the floor tonight as Mobley and Jerome are still out. In what could be a significant development Jaylen Brown will be a game time decision with an ankle injury. He had to leave Tuesday’s came after coming down awkwardly. If he does not play it definitely improves the Cavs’ chances since he had 25 points Tuesday and averages 22.
This time around the Cavs will have a day off before the game as opposed to playing in Orlando the night before and getting in at 2 a.m. At least tonight both teams will be on an even footing in terms of rest, although the Cavs will be playing their third game in four nights.
Tuesday’s game was tied with six minutes remaining before the Cavs managed to score just 7 points in the last 6 minutes. Fatigue may have been a factor, or maybe the Celtics are just better in crunch time.
The starters for both teams were pretty even, but the benches were the difference. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser combined to hit 5 of 9 three-point attempts. Pritchard, Hauser, and Al Horford were all between +10 and +14 in their combined 54 minutes while Niang, Okoro, and Thompson were all between -11 and -15 in their combined 51 minutes.
The Cavs played some good defense against Tatum and Porzingis, holding them to a combined 12-for-35 from the field and 4-for-15 from deep. But Brown was tougher to stop, hitting 10-for-17. Hopefully he will be a no-go.
The Celtics were 26-for-26 on free throws while the Cavs only attempted 9, a fact that I’m sure the Cavs pointed out to the league office. We’ll see if the Cavs get more calls tonight. However, Tatum averaged 8.4 free throws per game last year and had 9 Tuesday, so he was pretty much on his average. Porzingus also had 9 free throws and averaged 6.4 last year. I think the bigger issue is the Cavs need to get better at contesting shots without fouling.
The Cavs scored 113 on Monday which is good since the Celtics are allowing an average of 108 at home and the Cavs started Dean Wade for the injured Evan Mobley. It was defense that got them beat, specifically too many fouls and allowing Hauser, Pritchard, and Derrick White too many uncontested 3’s. Those three went 10-for-17 from deep; the rest of the Celtics were only 8-for-27.
The Cavs were 19-for-45 on 3’s, or 42%, which was very surprising considering their legs were probably tired from travel and playing the night before. They need to keep that up tonight to have a chance. The unusually good 3-point shooting papered over the fact that they were outrebounded by 10 and allowed the Celtics to get 9 steals and 9 blocked shots.
With no Mobley again tonight the Cavs need better individual defense, less fouling, and better rebounding to have a shot. They also need a better bench performance as they were soundly beaten when Thompson, Okoro, and Niang were on the floor.
If Brown can’t go the backup small forward is Dalano Banton, a former 2nd round pick who averages 2.9 points in 11 games this year.
The game will be televised on NBA-TV.
Injury report
Cleveland
Caris LeVert - OUT (knee)
Evan Mobley - OUT (knee)
Ty Jerome - OUT (ankle)
Boston
Kristaps Porzingis - PROBABLE (calf)
Jaylen Brown - QUESTIONABLE (ankle)
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