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Keys to the Game: Celtics 96, Cavaliers 83

Marc D'Amico
Team Reporter and Analyst

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Key Moment

What does it feel like when shooting from long distance feels like a slamming home a dunk? Whatever the answer is to that question, the Celtics felt it Wednesday night.

Boston clobbered the Cavaliers with a 3-point barrage at the start of Game 5, building a tidal wave that it rode to the final buzzer of a 96-83 win. The Celtics canned six 3s during the opening frame on 13 attempts. To put that into perspective, they averaged 11.5 made 3-pointers per game during the regular season.

They made six during Wednesday’s opening 12 minutes alone!

Two of them arrived during the most important stretch of the game, when Boston built a lead it never relinquished.

Marcus Smart opened up an 8-0 run with a deep catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the left wing at the 3:41 mark of the first. Marcus Morris bookended the run, which also featured two free throws from Jayson Tatum, with a 3-pointer of his own just 29 seconds later from nearly the same spot on the floor.

Just like that, the Celtics had pulled ahead 24-15 with 2:15 left in the quarter. And they never looked back from there.

Boston would go on to pull ahead 32-19 heading into the second period and its lead remained in double-digits for all but five minutes the rest of the night.

Key Player

Jayson Tatum wasn’t at his best in Cleveland, but he was Wednesday night when he got back to Boston.

Tatum wasn’t just good during Game 5, he was great – greater than even LeBron James.

James led Game 5 with 26 points, but Tatum was right on his heels with 24 of his own. The major difference between the two? Tatum stuffed the stat sheet while taking care of the ball, while James did neither.

In addition to his 24 points, Tatum also contributed seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots. During 40-plus minutes of action, while the ball was constantly in his hands, he committed only two turnovers. James, in two fewer minutes of playing time, committed four more turnovers (six in total) while providing only one steal and zero blocks.

Tatum was better. Tatum was great.

Tatum was the best player on the floor, on the most important night of the season.

Box Score Nuggets

  • Boston's team committed only four more turnovers (10) than LeBron James committed on his own (six).
  • Four Celtics finished with a double-digit plus/minus rating, led by Al Horford's plus-22.
  • Horford logged Boston's only double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
  • James logged the game's other double-double with his game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds.
  • Boston led by as many as 21 points, while Cleveland's largest lead was just three points during the early minutes of the first quarter.
  • Terry Rozier led the game with six assists.
  • The Celtics won by 13 while making the same amount of field goals as the Cavs - 31.
  • The Celtics made two more free throws (21) than Cleveland attempted (19).
  • Larry Nance Jr. led the game with four blocked shots.
  • Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart each scored 13 points off the bench for Boston.
  • James (26 points) and Kevin Love (14 points) were the only Cavaliers who scored more than eight points in the game.
  • Boston scored 96 points despite tallying only 26 in the paint.
  • Cleveland scored only two fast-break points in the game.

Quote of the Night

Brad Stevens on what the Celtics must concentrate on moving forward.