The Cleveland Cavaliers finally won their first road game of the NBA playoffs, stunning the Boston Celtics and the TD Garden crowd with a 118–94 victory in Game 2 of their second-round Eastern Conference series on Thursday. The series is tied 1–1 heading into Saturday’s Game 3 in Cleveland.
At first, it looked like the Cavs had won the playoffs without Donovan Mitchell scoring the majority of the points. After averaging 39 points in Cleveland’s last three playoff games, Mitchell had just six points at halftime. But he took over in the second half and scored 16 in the third quarter and 29 for the game.
Cleveland dominated the second half and outscored the Celtics 64–40. With about five minutes left in the game, Boston head coach Joe Mazzula conceded and moved most of his seats onto the court as the home crowd headed for the exits.
The riders quickly overcame the slow start
The Hawks fell behind by 9 points in the first quarter, but bounced back with the help of Evan Mobley’s 11 points and Caris LeVert’s six in an 11–0 run. At the end of the quarter, Cleveland led 30–24, silencing the Boston crowd.
Boston came back in the second quarter when Mobley and LeVert went cold, and Mitchell and Darius Garland missed their shots. Jayson Tatum went 3-for-10 from the field in the win, but led all first-half scorers with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Al Horford’s 11 points (he shot 4-for-5 on 3-pointers) helped spark a 19–3 Celtics run and a rally that tied the score at 54 at halftime.
Mobley finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, although his scoring slowed due to the offense. LeVert added 21 points and six rebounds as Mitchell and Garland warmed up. Garland added 14 points while Isaac Okoro and Max Struss each scored 12 points.
Tatum scored 25 points overall for the Celtics, but shot 7-for-17 from the field. No one in Boston’s lineup shot better. Derek White scored 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting (including 1-for-8 from 3). Jaylen Brown went 7-of-17 for 19 points.
The Cavs’ 3s are finally starting to come down
Outside shooting was an issue for the Cavaliers during the playoffs, but they had a 3-point shooting streak in Game 3. Cleveland shot 46 percent (13-for-28) from behind the arc, led by a 5-for-7 performance from Mitchell, who went 4-for-5 with Garland. . Stress added two more from 3-point range, while Mobley and Okoro each hit one.
Meanwhile, the Celtics struggled to shoot. Boston shot 22.9 percent on its 3-point attempts, going 8-for-35. In addition to White’s 1-for-8 night, Brown went 0-for-6 and Jrue Holiday shot 0-for-2 as he continued his struggles on the afternoon.
Jarrett Allen missed the Cavs’ fifth straight playoff game with a right rib injury, while Kristaps Porzych missed the last two games against the Celtics with a calf injury.
Game 3 of the Celtics-Cavaliers series is scheduled for Saturday in Cleveland. Tipoff is telecast at 8:30 pm ET on ABC.