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Crunch-Time Mistakes Cost C's During Loss to Cavs

Marc D'Amico
Team Reporter and Analyst

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LAS VEGAS – The Summer Celtics will not enter the win-or-go-home stage of the Samsung NBA Summer League after falling 98-94 to the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night.

A victory would have secured at least two more Summer League games for the Celtics. Instead, with the loss now in tow, the C’s will now play their fifth and final game at 6 p.m. on Friday against Portland.

Wednesday’s matchup was close throughout, with neither team building a lead larger than nine points at any stage of the contest. Boston led by one point with 1:53 remaining after Terry Rozier put home a driving finger roll.

However, missteps down the stretch cost Boston in a big way as it allowed Cleveland to take a commanding lead.

The Cavaliers followed up Rozier’s layup with four straight points, all of which were scored following offensive rebounds, to take a 94-91 lead with 53.3 seconds remaining. Those buckets stung the most as the team spoke following the loss.

“We had them stopped the last two minutes there where we had a chance to get the ball,” head coach Jamie Young said, “and they got offensive rebounds there.”

Abdel Nader added, “It’s bothersome, just because it’s the little things that can make you lose the game.”

Unfortunately, Boston continued to make mistakes down the stretch when it came to the little things.

The C’s failed to score on their next possession, and then Jaylen Brown made an uncharacteristic mental mistake by purposely committing a foul with 24.0 seconds left. Brown thought the C’s needed to foul to stop the clock, but there was an eight-second time differential between the shot clock and the game clock in a one-possession game.

Had Boston simply forced a miss, it would have had a chance to grab the rebound and tie the game up on its next possession. Instead, Kay Felder put home two free throws to put Cleveland on top 96-91 with 24.0 seconds remaining.

Brown did his best to make up for his mistake at the other end, as he put home a driving, and-one layup through traffic to slice Cleveland’s lead back down to two with 20.4 seconds left. Boston was unable to force a turnover as the Cavs advanced the ball, and it was then forced to foul Jordan McCrae, the game’s leading scorer, with 10.5 seconds left on the clock.

McCrae converted both free throws to take his point total to 32 and to put Cleveland on top 98-94. Boston had two opportunities to make 3-pointers during the final 10 seconds, but Nader misfired on both shots before time expired.

Despite the loss, Boston continued to receive encouraging performances from some of its top players.

Brown put up another strong effort, consisting of his team highs of 25 points and nine rebounds. He shot 8-for-11 from the free-throw line, marking the third time in his five Summer League games during which he attempted at least 11 freebies.

Terry Rozier also continued to impress. He finished just behind Brown in the scoring column with 24 points of his own. Rozier made seven of his 10 shots and all nine of his free throws.

Nader came off of Boston’s bench to score 13 points and grab five rebounds during yet another great effort. He played so well, in fact, that Young drew up Boston’s final play for him. Nader wound up missing a 3 from the right wing and later commented that he should have tried to have drawn a foul on his defender.

Brown, Rozier and Nader now have one game left to play together before they and the team break apart until training camp arrives in late September. Needless to say, they aim to go out on a high note.

“Just get out and play together and play the game the right way,” Brown said of Friday’s upcoming game. “At the end of the day, these are our teammates. We try to get better one step at a time.”

Rozier added that he wanted to “end it with a win” while playing hard and not taking the opportunity for granted.