Well that was rough.
On Tuesday night, our Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Donovan Mitchell led the charge on offense, scoring 33 points in 37 minutes of play. Also chipping in offensively was Evan Mobley with 17 points.
For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, while Derrick White scored 25 with seven three pointers.
Boston got out to a fast start, opening up the game on a 12-2 run, before the Cavs would rally and go up by two halfway through the first. However, the Celtics would find their rhythm, and jump out to a six point lead to end the quarter.
Both offenses stalled in the 2nd, with the Cavaliers not scoring for the first four and a half minutes, en route to a 15 point quarter overall. The Celtics also struggled on that end, scoring 19 points over the entire quarter. After the first half, Boston led by 10, 59-49.
In the 3rd, both teams found their groove once again, with the Celtics being propelled by 14 points in the quarter from Derrick White. After a 28 foot three pointer from point guard Payton Pritchard to beat the buzzer, the Celtics went up by 15.
Boston would then open up the 4th quarter on a 10-2 run, and would not look back, winning 120-95.
The difference came in the form of rebounds and three point shooting, with the Celtics out rebounding the Cavs by 17, and making seven more three pointers.
Oh, and Darius Garland got whacked in the face again.
For the Wine and Gold, last nights resulted offered both good news and bad news.
The good news: they held Jayson Tatum to 18 points on 7/19 shooting.
The bad news: Nearly every other Celtic stepped up, whether it was the starters or the guys off the bench, everyone played their role to perfection which destroyed the Cavs.
The worse news: Once again, Donovan Mitchell had to put the team on his back, and while that may have been enough against the Magic, it will not fly against a team as good as Boston.
Game 2 will tip-off on Thursday at 7 pm. Hopefully the Game 1 blowout will prove to be a wakeup call for the Cavaliers, and they will bounce back in a big way.
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