What’s over depends on your view of the situation. For some it could be just the playoffs. For others it could be the era (of an any number of Cavalier figures). For some it could be the misery of seeing their favorite team march to a certain end.
Whatever it is, the Cavs managed one win against the Easter Conference kings. There might be an asterisk next to this game, and series, given the serious injury woes the Cavs were up against.
So, suppose it’s only fitting the starting lineup was Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, Dean Wade and Evan Mobley. That’s not what this team entered training camp expecting.
And despite all that, the Cavs battled and hung in there all game long.
The first turned out to be a back-and-forth affair with the Celtics likely being surprised by the Cavs resiliency, and the Cavs struggling with the Celtics three-point prowess being done so many bodies.
Somehow the Cavs missed their first five field goals, and their sixth attempt (a Max Strus three-pointer) tied the game at 6.
The Celtics offense presents a lot of problems when they get past the first line (well really any offense does). The Cavs point of attack defense has failed them at times and put a lot of pressure on rotations. Once the Celtics get into the paint, they’re so good at moving the ball around the perimeter and playing off closeouts. This had the Cavs scrambling early.
Going into training camp, it also likely wasn’t expected that Philadelphia 76er Marcus Morris Sr would be the Cavs first player off the bench in a closeout game in Boston – but here we are.
But credit to Morris: He stepped up and showed out. He came right off the bench and had four points in just under two minutes. This was part of 7 first quarter points and leading the way scoring in the first quarter.
Morris Sr was 3-3 but it felt like the Celtics were 12-for-12 with how they were hitting three-pointers. They finished the quarter with 6 made.
The Cavs had an early decision to make: How do they handle the drives and rotations? Do they help off leaving shooters? Or do they let Tatum and Brown go, and stay on the shooters? They chose he first option and the Celtics made them pay.
48 hours after JB Bickerstaff, Dan Gilbet, Garland, and others, went off on the officiating, it was interested to see the Cavs had 6 free throw attempts in the first quarter while the Celtics had none. The Cavs had 5 total (excluding technical free-throws) last game.
Being down as many scorers as they were, it was important to get multiple players to step up. The Cavs had five players score in the first quarter which helped them break even with Boston at 28.
If Max Strus is on the team next year, I’d like to see a continued effort to put Strus in playmaking situations rather than just parking him in a corner and asking him to spot-up. Strus finished with 9 assists but 4 of them came in the first quarter. He has a really good feel passing within sets and pick-and-roll, noted by his feed to Mobley.
The Celtics kept on their three-point barrage with back-to-back threes to start the second quarter with their bench bunch.
But the Cavs were not to be outdone and responded with back-to-back-to-back threes of their own including an Isaac Okoro three-pointer. The last three, a birthday boy Sam Merrill three, actually put the Cavs up three.
Morris once again came in off the bench in the second and contributed right away with 5 points. He was already up to 12 points halfway through the second quarter.
Following that, the Cavs went a bit cold. After hitting 10 of their first 17 shots, they went 1-for-8 including three turnovers over the last 5 minutes of the quarter.
Garland does deserve some credit for how he handled his defensive responsibilities, and for putting up a good fight when he could. However, the approach in some areas can be improved. Case in point.Play through the screen does not play the screen for a foul. Getting caught up in trying to draw a foul is only going to hurt the team more if it doesn’t work. Get skinny and over or get over and through.
Following the last Morris Sr bucket, the Celtics went on a 15-6 run to end the second quarter. During this stretch, the Celtics dumped in another four three-pointers which brought their total to six for the quarter.
By halftime, the Celtics made 12 three-pointers and were shooting 48% from deep. Hard to win when the Celtics are shooting that well from deep.
The Cavs did manage to get 13 bench points in the second quarter, and already had 20 by halftime. Much of that was Morris getting hot with 14 points at half.
With no real ballhandlers healthy after Garland, the Cavs were forced to be creative on how they approached his rest. He got just under 4 minutes of rest and the Cavs were a +1 in that time.
A third quarter without an opening Celtics run is not really a third quarter. The Cavs came out hitting their first two shots but that launched the Celtics into an 11-0 run.
The Cavs opponent’s runs always come at the expense of the Cavs turnovers. They had two in just under three minutes of play including them on back-to-back possessions which the Celtics capitalized on.
During the Celtics run these were their shot makes: free throws, 1’ dunk, 1’ layup, 1’ layup, 25’ jump-shpt. Hard to win when so many of those looks are coming as close as they are.
Then just like that the Celtics went cold. They missed their next five three-pointers, and only scored from Tatum and Brown went to the line. Overall, they didn’t make a field goal for five minutes.
Yet somehow during that stretch the Cavs started down 12 and ended it only down 9. It felt like a big, missed opportunity to get the game closer when the Celtics were struggling but the Cavs just couldn’t muster the offensive output.
Meanwhile, here were the Cavs misses: 5’, 3’, 27’, 6’, 27’ 15’. Some missed threes in there but also a failure to convert around the rim. It had been a problem impacting them all series long and was on full display in this stretch.
The third quarter needs to be played on repeat for any Mobley doubt. This felt like a statement quarter and Mobley really carried the team offensively for much of the quarter. He contributed 13 points (6-8 FG), 3 rebounds and one assist.
The difference with Mobley was his decisiveness. When he is playing aggressive and decisive, he is hard to stop. There’s a certain uncertainty that takes over for him offensively which is when he gets into trouble and overthinks it. When he grabs it and goes and let’s his athleticism take over, he’s hard to stop.
As the Cavs approach this offseason, this third quarter, and playoff run without Jarrett Allen, will loom large for Mobley and what can be.
We got 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, and the Cavs only being down 3 after we got presented the fact Mobley and Morris had scored 18 of the Cavs last 21 points up to that point. Somehow the Cavs were still in the ballgame on the road in Boston. Somehow.
But fear not, that’s when the tides turned. The Celtics went on a 13-2 run including three three-pointers. At this point, down 14 points with under 7 minutes left felt like a tall task considering the Cavs lack of offense and the Celtics firepower at home.
This series was a game of runs. It seemed like each team traded going on runs within the quarters. Good teams can mitigate their opponents run and really put the pedal to the floor and extend theirs.
When the Celtics are shooting like this it takes you back to the Golden State years when you just feel helpless. Even Al Horford was getting into the act and finished with 6 made three-pointers.
That was six more three-pointers than Garland made.
Just as the Mobley quarter will stick in people’s minds, so will Garland’s. Now, to his credit he had 9 assists and 2 turnovers which is how you impact a team with a bad shooting night. But when the Cavs needed him to step up, he could only step up with 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting. Yikes.
After that Celtics run, Morris and Mobley would combine to score the Cavs final 11 points of the season. The Cavs were never able to recover after that large Celtics run and couldn’t get it under double digits to try and make it a game going down to the line.
Morris finished the game with 25 points. Yes, you read that right.
You also read it right the Cavs somehow didn’t score any fastbreak points. What had been such a valuable part of their game was completely shut out. Maybe it was fatigue or maybe it was being undermanned, but it is hard to imagine that being the case. The Celtics didn’t miss too many shots, but it also didn’t feel like the Cavs were too opportunistic when they did.
The Celtics finished a +15 in the rebounding department with 11 offensive rebounds. It’s a concern with only Mobley manning the middle is how they’ll rebound but it’s something they need to address roster wide not just if Mobley moves to center full-time.
After just two free-throw attempts at half time, the Celtics finished the game with 12 – same number as the Cavs.
The Cavs also shot well at a 42% 3P clip but the Celtics shot better (44%) and made more (19).
Okoro has got to find his shot or must find a coach that is going to do more for him. It’s both. After seeing how the Celtics were not respecting his shot, Bickerstaff only played him 5 second half minutes.
No other Cavalier aside from Morris or Mobley scored more than one field goal.
Garland played the entire second half and had 2 points…. Two points!
Draymond Green was on the postgame coverage talking about how much trouble Horford was having playing drop in the pick-and-roll, and yet Garland could never take advantage of it on the night. For as many times Garland was switched on Horford, he did not consistently win the battle. He was too often dribbling, trying to go east-west when he needed to get north-south. When he did get downhill, Horford’s length was bothersome to Garland’s finishing. Garland was just 2-for-8 in the paint.
Finally, would like to say thank you to anyone who read these during the season. We hope you enjoyed them. We’ll try to come back next year better than ever.
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