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Back on a roll having won 12 of 13 the Cavs get two days off after burying the Magic by 40 before rolling into Beantown for their fourth and final regular season game against the Celtics. The Cavs will be looking to tie the series as the Celtics have 2-1 lead with all three games having been decided by 7 points or less.
The first two games were in the first five weeks of the season but the most recent one was Feb. 4 in Cleveland with the Celtics winning 112-105. The Celtics had their entire roster for that one while the Cavs were missing Wade and Okoro. They also had LeVert and Niang instead of Hunter. Caris and the G-Wagon combined for 6 points in 42 minutes in that game, which may have influenced Altman to make the Hunter deal. They were -13 and -23 in their minutes on the floor.
So subtract LeVert and Niang and add Hunter, Wade, and Okoro to the Cavs rotation. The Cavs have no one on the injury report. The Celtics have three players who are questionable; starters Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday and backup center Luke Kornet.
The Celtics are 42-17 and trail the Cavs by 6.5 games. If the Cavs finish 18-6 and the Celtics finish 23-0 the Cavs would still win the division by a game. So barring a Cavaliers collapse this game should not be meaningful as far as playoff seeding goes.
But that doesn’t mean this game is unimportant. The Cavs understand that Boston is the defending NBA Champions and they need to prove they can beat them.
We got to prove we can beat them. I think we go in there kind of guns ablaze. And we gotta go for the win, whatever it takes and throw everything at them. And then after that game, we’ll kind of surmise, hey, what can we do in the playoffs? But we’re not going to hold anything back. - Kenny Atkinson
The Celtics are actually better on the road (24-7) than at home (18-10). Two nights ago they lost to Detroit on the road 117-97. It was the Pistons’ 8th win in a row. I watched the game and the Pistons were just too young, quick, and physical for the Celtics, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and were without Jaylen Brown. The Celtics will be playing their 3rd game in four nights against the Cavs, and they are not the youngest team in the league. Horford is 38 and Holiday 34.
The Celtics are a well-balanced team, ranking 4th in offensive efficiency and 5th in defensive efficiency. They are not balanced offensively, however, as they are last in points in the paint and last in fast break points. They average 48 three-point attempts per game to easily lead the league. Over 53% of their shots are 3’s; nobody else is above 47%. They’re 28th in frequency of shots at the rim and 30th in mid-range. They walk the ball up and set up a 3-pointer off a screen, a pick-and-pop, or just let the 6’8” Tatum or the 7’3” Porzingis shoot over a shorter defender after a switch.
The Celtics are 27th in free throw attempts per play as expected since they don’t attack the rim much. They play slow, ranking 26th in pace, but have the second fewest turnovers. As a result they rank 6th in points per game. They only rank 10th in 3-point shooting percentage at 36.8%, but they take so many that the points mount up. They average 117 per game against the league and 114 against the Cavs.
Defensively the Celtics rank 3rd in opponents’ points per game. They are 4th in 2-point percentage and 3rd in 3-point percentage so their defense is stout both inside and outside. They’re 7th in block percentage and 3rd in opponents’ free throw attempts per play, so they play great defense without fouling. The only area where they are below average is forcing turnovers where they rank 22nd. They are excellent on the defensive glass, ranking 5th in rebound percentage.
In three games the Cavs scored 117, 115, and 105 against them, but the Celtics have not played the Cavs since the De’Andre Hunter trade. In February the Cavs are averaging 126.3 points per game on 50% from the field and 40.4% on 3’s.
Donovan Mitchell is averaging 33.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4 assists against Boston in three games. He sees red when he sees green, I guess you could say. Darius is second at 17.7 points but is only shooting 30% from the field, possibly as a result of Jrue Holiday’s excellent defense. Evan Mobley has also struggled at 37.5% from the field and 11.1% on 3’s. Kristaps Porzingis has done a good job of denying layups, lobs, and floaters in the paint.
Jason Tatum is their superstar, averaging 26.6 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. Against the Cavs he is averaging 29 points on 43% from the 3-point line. Jaylen Brown averages 23 points on 46% overall but just 32% on 3’s. Porzingis plays 29 minutes per game and averages 19 points. He’s hitting 40% from deep. If Kornet is out there’s a massive drop-off offensively from Porzingis to Queta, their other backup center.
Derrick White is having a strong year at 16 points per game on 47% and 39%. Peyton Pritchard is the 6th man of the year favorite at 14 points on 47% and 41%.
This game could be a 3-point shooting contest. For the Cavs De’Andre Hunter is hitting 56.7% of his 3’s in February, Jerome 51.5, Garland 43.4, Merrill 42.9 (but only 3 of his last 16), Strus 39, and Mitchell 37.5. Only Mobley is struggling at 28.6%.
In their loss in Cleveland four weeks ago the Cavs hit 11 of 39 from deep and only 40% overall.
So this will be the Cavs’ chance to test their new look, which has been incredible in recent games. Since the break they beat the Knicks by 37, Orlando by 40, Brooklyn on the road by 13 (the Nets had won 6 of 7), and Memphis by 6 (2nd place in the West).
This one should be very entertaining as we close out February. Kenny says they’re going to empty the tank to go for the win and they are off on Saturday and home against Portland on Sunday, so minutes should not be an issue. That being said, I expect he will experiment with some lineup combinations to see which ones give the Celtics problems and which don’t. Getting some solid data on what works against this team is probably more important than the final score, but no question the Cavs want to make a point before what could very well be an EC Finals matchup.
The first two games were in the first five weeks of the season but the most recent one was Feb. 4 in Cleveland with the Celtics winning 112-105. The Celtics had their entire roster for that one while the Cavs were missing Wade and Okoro. They also had LeVert and Niang instead of Hunter. Caris and the G-Wagon combined for 6 points in 42 minutes in that game, which may have influenced Altman to make the Hunter deal. They were -13 and -23 in their minutes on the floor.
So subtract LeVert and Niang and add Hunter, Wade, and Okoro to the Cavs rotation. The Cavs have no one on the injury report. The Celtics have three players who are questionable; starters Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday and backup center Luke Kornet.
The Celtics are 42-17 and trail the Cavs by 6.5 games. If the Cavs finish 18-6 and the Celtics finish 23-0 the Cavs would still win the division by a game. So barring a Cavaliers collapse this game should not be meaningful as far as playoff seeding goes.
But that doesn’t mean this game is unimportant. The Cavs understand that Boston is the defending NBA Champions and they need to prove they can beat them.
We got to prove we can beat them. I think we go in there kind of guns ablaze. And we gotta go for the win, whatever it takes and throw everything at them. And then after that game, we’ll kind of surmise, hey, what can we do in the playoffs? But we’re not going to hold anything back. - Kenny Atkinson
The Celtics are actually better on the road (24-7) than at home (18-10). Two nights ago they lost to Detroit on the road 117-97. It was the Pistons’ 8th win in a row. I watched the game and the Pistons were just too young, quick, and physical for the Celtics, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and were without Jaylen Brown. The Celtics will be playing their 3rd game in four nights against the Cavs, and they are not the youngest team in the league. Horford is 38 and Holiday 34.
The Celtics are a well-balanced team, ranking 4th in offensive efficiency and 5th in defensive efficiency. They are not balanced offensively, however, as they are last in points in the paint and last in fast break points. They average 48 three-point attempts per game to easily lead the league. Over 53% of their shots are 3’s; nobody else is above 47%. They’re 28th in frequency of shots at the rim and 30th in mid-range. They walk the ball up and set up a 3-pointer off a screen, a pick-and-pop, or just let the 6’8” Tatum or the 7’3” Porzingis shoot over a shorter defender after a switch.
The Celtics are 27th in free throw attempts per play as expected since they don’t attack the rim much. They play slow, ranking 26th in pace, but have the second fewest turnovers. As a result they rank 6th in points per game. They only rank 10th in 3-point shooting percentage at 36.8%, but they take so many that the points mount up. They average 117 per game against the league and 114 against the Cavs.
Defensively the Celtics rank 3rd in opponents’ points per game. They are 4th in 2-point percentage and 3rd in 3-point percentage so their defense is stout both inside and outside. They’re 7th in block percentage and 3rd in opponents’ free throw attempts per play, so they play great defense without fouling. The only area where they are below average is forcing turnovers where they rank 22nd. They are excellent on the defensive glass, ranking 5th in rebound percentage.
In three games the Cavs scored 117, 115, and 105 against them, but the Celtics have not played the Cavs since the De’Andre Hunter trade. In February the Cavs are averaging 126.3 points per game on 50% from the field and 40.4% on 3’s.
Donovan Mitchell is averaging 33.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4 assists against Boston in three games. He sees red when he sees green, I guess you could say. Darius is second at 17.7 points but is only shooting 30% from the field, possibly as a result of Jrue Holiday’s excellent defense. Evan Mobley has also struggled at 37.5% from the field and 11.1% on 3’s. Kristaps Porzingis has done a good job of denying layups, lobs, and floaters in the paint.
Jason Tatum is their superstar, averaging 26.6 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. Against the Cavs he is averaging 29 points on 43% from the 3-point line. Jaylen Brown averages 23 points on 46% overall but just 32% on 3’s. Porzingis plays 29 minutes per game and averages 19 points. He’s hitting 40% from deep. If Kornet is out there’s a massive drop-off offensively from Porzingis to Queta, their other backup center.
Derrick White is having a strong year at 16 points per game on 47% and 39%. Peyton Pritchard is the 6th man of the year favorite at 14 points on 47% and 41%.
This game could be a 3-point shooting contest. For the Cavs De’Andre Hunter is hitting 56.7% of his 3’s in February, Jerome 51.5, Garland 43.4, Merrill 42.9 (but only 3 of his last 16), Strus 39, and Mitchell 37.5. Only Mobley is struggling at 28.6%.
In their loss in Cleveland four weeks ago the Cavs hit 11 of 39 from deep and only 40% overall.
So this will be the Cavs’ chance to test their new look, which has been incredible in recent games. Since the break they beat the Knicks by 37, Orlando by 40, Brooklyn on the road by 13 (the Nets had won 6 of 7), and Memphis by 6 (2nd place in the West).
This one should be very entertaining as we close out February. Kenny says they’re going to empty the tank to go for the win and they are off on Saturday and home against Portland on Sunday, so minutes should not be an issue. That being said, I expect he will experiment with some lineup combinations to see which ones give the Celtics problems and which don’t. Getting some solid data on what works against this team is probably more important than the final score, but no question the Cavs want to make a point before what could very well be an EC Finals matchup.
