RCF Recap: Cavs double up on losses in Boston

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• The Cavs mini-road trip was going to be tough. After starting out with a win in Miami, something they haven’t done very often the last two decades, they lost three straight by an average of 8.6 points per game. The Magic are a good team, the Celtics are a very good team, and the Cavs are an average (or very inconsistent) team right now. And it shows in their 13-12 record.
• The Celtics continued from last game, coming out firing on all cylinders offensively. They put in 65 points, 10 three-pointers, and were above 50% from the field and 90% from the line. When the Celtics are on, they’re incredibly hard to stop with the space the create for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to operate, and the four shooters they have always around them.
• The Cavs tried to keep up shooting in the first and second quarter and it didn’t go too well. They started 1-10 from 3 in the 1Q, and then went 3-10 in the 2Q. The Cavs simply aren’t equipped to get in a shooting competition.
• Austin Carr made a point that seems to be true about this team: The Cavs perform better offensively if they work inside-out instead of outside-in. The Celtics have the shooters to play from the perimeter all game; the Cavs don’t. Where they get into lulls offensively, which they did at times in the 1H, it's from being too reliant on their perimeter offense. Their offensive flow and success seems to come more naturally when they’re getting penetration, getting to the rim and creating opportunities from the paint out instead of trying to shoot themselves into rhythm from the perimeter.
• Turnovers were a problem in the first half: They finished with a 11 total, and had 7 turnovers in the first 13 minutes. To their credit they cleaned it up in the second half, with only 5, which was part of the reason they were able to cut it to a one possession game at one point.
• The Celtics kept the pressure on the Cavs by going on several first half mini-runs to build their lead: 7-2, 7-0, 7-2, 7-2, 8-2. Some empty offensive possessions, missed long-range shots, little point of attack defense and good spot-shooting will do that to you.
• JB Bickerstaff did make an interesting adjustment in the 2Q. He went ultra-small with Georges Niang, Dean Wade and Max Strus around Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and that lineup went on a mini 7-2 run. He went to a similar look in the 2H, except swapped Caris LeVert for Strus, and that lineup was a -7.
• Speaking of Mitchell, he was one of the few bright spots for Cleveland. Maybe it's something about playing in Boston but Mitchell had 21 points at half with no other Cav above 7. He finished with 31 points on the night.
• The Cavs did a better job at the free-throw line compared to Tuesday night. They were a +1 in free-throw attempts at half and finished the game with 17 attempts compared to the Celtics 20.
• Being down 11 at half, Bickerstaff decided to swap out Okoro for Wade to start the half and it kind of worked. The Cavs slowly whittled the lead down thanks to Okoro (the only plus Cav on the night at +4), and LeVert going off. LeVert had 10 of the Cavs first 17 points, and Okoro had 7 points and 2 assists to start the half.
• What hurt the Cavs in the first half (poor perimeter shooting, turnovers, and the Celtics shooting well) flipped in the second half. The Cavs shot 64% in the third quarter, kept the turnovers down, and held the Celtics to under 30 points in the 3Q and 4Q. The Celtics made 2 3’s in the 2H after making 10 in the 1H.
• The Cavs managed to get the Celtics lead down to 3 entering the 4Q but the Celtics pushed it back to double digits within two minutes of the 4Q starting. The lead yo-yo’ed most of the 2H with the Cavs never being able to get over the hump. In the end, the Cavs never led all night.
• The play that broke the camel’s back was a late 4Q offensive rebound. Jaylen Brown got a rebound between Allen, Okoro and Mitchell, and tossed it to Jrue Holiday under the basket to push the Celtics lead to 7 with 2:30 left, and triggered a mini 6-0 run that eventually pushed their lead to 11 with just over a minute left. The Cavs had forced a miss, had some momentum, and had a chance to cut the Celtics lead to a one-possession game. Instead it was a potential 5 point swing. It was a big shift which put the game just a bit too far out of reach.
• The Cavs only managed 20 4Q points after putting up only 21 points on Tuesday. For the year, they are averaging 25.8 points in the 4Q which is 27th in the NBA. Last year was no better with 26.5 points per 4Q which was 24th. The Cavs have a 4th quarter/crunch time problem and it’s been like that for two years now.
• The odd part is the Mitchell and Garland two-man pairing had a 4Q net rating of +17.4 land a 119.6 offensive rating last year. This year they have a +21.9 (!) net rating with a 114 offensive rating, and a 92.1 defensive rating. For the Cavs to perform so poor in the 4Q as a team yet have their two best players perform extremely well together is... weird.
• The Celtics exposed two issues with the Cavs: They lack positional size, and they lack point of attack defense. The Celtics were consistently getting where they wanted because the Cavs don’t have the perimeter point of attack players to consistently keep them out of the paint. And when an Evan Mobley is out of both those games, it adds a layer of difficulty as the person to help clean up those drives isn’t there. Even if the Cavs were able to contain them a bit, it didn’t matter. Credit to Brown and Tatum for being tough shot makers but the Cavs also don’t have the consistent positional size to make those tough shots even tougher shots.
• Last two nights the Cavs tried to out offense one of the league’s best offenses. They went 0-2. 113 points on 47.8% shooting and 107 points on 48.2% shooting should give you a good chance to win most nights, but not when your opponent is 6th in offensive rating.
• Up next: The Cavs get a bit of reprieve with four straight home games, and some easier opponents. It starts with Atlanta on Saturday at 7:30PM (ET).

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