Post Game - Celtics vs. Cavaliers - Tuesday, December 12 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584933

Celtics-Cavs takeaways: C's overcome slow start to extend home win streak

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-cavs-takeaways-cs-overcome-031325167.html

Justin Leger
Tue, Dec 12, 2023, 10:13 PM EST·4 min read



Celtics-Cavs takeaways: C's overcome slow start to extend home win streak originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Jaylen Brown leads the way
Living by the 3
Free throws make the difference

The Boston Celtics overcame a slow start vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers to remain undefeated at TD Garden this season.

Tuesday night's matchup marked the Celtics' first game since Friday and just their fourth this month. The Cavs, meanwhile, played the second night of a back-to-back and their fourth game in the last week.

Despite that, Cleveland looked like the more energized team out of the gate. The C's couldn't make shots throughout the first quarter (1-10 3-PT) and trailed by as many as 15 points. They woke up toward the end of the frame and chipped away at the deficit in the second quarter, cutting it down to one at the half.

It was a tightly contested second half, but Boston pulled away late to earn a 120-113 victory and improve to 11-0 at home. They are the only NBA team that has yet to lose on their home court this season. Their 18 consecutive regular-season home wins dating back to last year mark their longest streak since 1990-91.

All five C's starters scored in double figures with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown dropping 25 points apiece. Donovan Mitchell (29 points) and Darius Garland (26 points) paced the Cavs in the scoring column.

The Celtics' (17-5) homestand continues with a rematch vs. the Cavs (13-11) on Thursday night. First, here are three quick takeaways from Tuesday's game.

Jaylen Brown leads the way

Brown was the only Celtic to not look sluggish to start this game. He scored 10 of Boston's first 12 points while his teammates started 0-for-11 from the floor through the first nine minutes.

He ended up with 16 first-half points, though an ankle injury he suffered on a dunk attempt late in the second quarter gave C's fans a scare. The two-time All-Star immediately exited to the locker room.



Fortunately, Brown returned to the court to start the second half and looked like himself. He scored Boston's first five points in the third quarter and finished with 25 on 10-of-17 shooting altogether.

Brown continues to shoot efficiently in December. He also dished four assists to go with two rebounds, a block, and a steal in the win.

Living by the 3

For most of the first quarter, there seemed to be an invisible lid on the rim when the Celtics attempted 3-point shots. They started 0-for-9 from deep and didn't see one go through the net until Payton Pritchard hit their first 3 with just over a minute to go in the frame.

They finally found their groove in the second quarter with none other than Derrick White setting the tone. White drilled three consecutive 3-pointers to help Boston chip away at Cleveland's lead.



From there, the C's stayed hot and made 18 of their next 35 shots from beyond the arc (51.4 percent). They finished 18-of-44 (40.9 percent) from 3 with White (5-8 3-PT), Jrue Holiday (3-5), and Sam Hauser (3-4) each coming up big in that department.

The Celtics are now 15-0 this season when shooting at least 33.3 percent from 3-point range. They are 2-5 when shooting below that mark.

Free throws make the difference

The Celtics' free-throw struggles have come back to bite them at points this season, but their performance at the line was the reason they escaped with a victory on Tuesday night.

When the shots weren't falling, they relied on free throws to keep them in the game. They hit all 17 of their shots from the charity stripe in the first half. The Cavs had only two free-throw attempts through the first two frames.

That trend continued in the second half. Boston ended up a perfect 26-for-26 from the line with Cleveland just 6-for-9. Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis did most of the damage, both going 9-for-9.

While it wasn't the most exciting way to win a game, the Celtics' free-throw shooting was the difference on a night when the offense wasn't as explosive as it's been all season.

From another perspective:


Yeah, there's nothing.  No one's talking Cavs.  Here is a link to their blog.  (It's SBNation, same as CelticsBlog):

https://www.fearthesword.com/

Really nice comeback after a terrible start. The Zinger was horrible in the first half 0-6, 3 turnovers, and poor defense. However, he played a terrific second half. He helped close out the game with some key hoops and free throws.

The J's were solid and of course D White just continues to excel on both ends of the court. He should be an all star, but it will never happen.

Mitchell, Garland and Levert can really heat up. I thought our defense was exceptional trying to stop them, but it didn't matter at times. These guys continued to make shots. Kudos to our D for playing them tough every possession. Holiday was once again outstanding on the defensive end.

The next game is important, got to see if we can beat them again on our home floor. These back to back games at home mirror a playoff series where the first two are at home. We all remember how we blew the first two at home vs Miami. Hopefully this type of series can help us to learn not to make that mistake again.

Sam is shooting three's at a 44.4% clip and scoring an average of 9.5 ppg. Damn good for an NBA player earning less than $2M a year. What a bargain. Way to go Brad.

Yeah, Celtics17, I'm surprised they haven't adopted this format much earlier just from a travel expense point of view.

Games and players are never perfect. Champions figure out intra-game when crap ain't working and they adjust. Sometimes, we still slip back into that Go 3 or Go Home mentality. This game shows that even though going 0-9 to start, to have shot 26-26 from the line, they took the ball to the hole. Repeatedly. You don't get regularly fouled taking and bricking 3's the whole game.

This shows extreme maturity of this team vs. last year. 3's FGA vs. 2's FGA was 44 vs. 40 respectively. That's basically 50/50. Yeah, we dug ourselves a hole to start, but we figured it out on the court. You can't put a price on this major, mental leap forward by this team.

I don't know what the number of misses is by the players or the coaches as to when the plug gets pulled for 3 bombing, but this team knows that there are too many easy baskets via layup, dunk or And 1's to just keep 3-boming 'til the cows come home.

Now, how are we going to come out for G2? I think we will see a much better start.

db

The Celtics played like a seasoned, mature team last night.

With their 11th straight win at home they also tied the T'Wolves for the top record in the NBA at 17-5.  Perhaps, more importantly, is the quality # of wins.  The Celtics are tops in the NBA at 11-4 vs teams playing at a .500 or better clip.

The Cavs are no easy out.  As you may recall they beat us 3-1 last season and ALL 3 losses to them were OT games.  That's pretty amazing.

Things did not exactly start off with strikes.  The Celtics resembled a RedSox pitcher that could not find the plate.  Everyone seemed a bit off kilter except for Jaylen Brown.  His tenacity, power and skill in getting to the rim and  finishing was a theme that played out all game.  He is an absolute beast.   Once his teammates started to cook the Celtics erased a 31-21 10 point first QTR deficit to close within 1 by the half.

Mitchell and Garland seemed to make every shot that they took.  They took turns torching us off of those high screens.

Late in the game the Celtics changed up their coverage as they began to blitz those screens allowing them to put more pressure on the Cav shooters.  I was very impressed with the way Boston executed at both ends down the stretch by getting stops and turning them into buckets.  The Celtics won both the 3rd and 4th QTRS.

This was a team win as everyone contributed to the final outcome.  The Celtics shot a perfect 26 FTA and that number was really the difference in the game from a scoring perspective.  

The Celtics took 44 3 point shots and the Cavs took 45.  I am certain that the Cavs coaching staff told the team that they need to shoot more 3 pointers to compete on the scoreboard with the Celtics.  Consider this.  The Cavs only average 33.1 three point attempts per game.  

G2 on Thursday should be a good one.  The Celtics will need to set the tone early.  They should not let the Cavs get comfortable taking shots.

I love 75% of this Celtics team, love them, but not as they start the 3rd Q. In fact, we rank so low in every measure of efficiency in the 3rd Q versus all other NBA teams. What is going on at half time? Snacks too good? Give them PB&J sandwiches like Bill Russell demanded.

worcester wrote:I love 75% of this Celtics team, love them, but not as they start the 3rd Q. In fact, we rank so low in every measure of efficiency in the 3rd Q versus all other NBA teams. What is going on at half time? Snacks too good? Give them PB&J sandwiches like Bill Russell demanded.

I agree; biggest mystery surrounding this team so far this season IMO.