Playoffs

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Taylor Snow

Neither Jayson Tatum nor Jrue Holiday had been scoring the ball to their standards over the past few games. However, the duo got back on track with their best respective performances of the postseason Saturday night to help the Boston Celtics come through with a bounce-back win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Tatum logged game-highs of 33 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, while Holiday turned in 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.

Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown kept his hot stretch alive with 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting, and the C’s rolled to a 106-93 win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse where they regained a 2-1 series lead while handing Cleveland its first home loss of the postseason.

Tatum hadn’t logged a 30-point effort since March 28. Opposing teams had been loading up on him defensively of late, forcing him to impact the game in other ways, which he’d been doing. But it was nice to finally have a high-volume scoring night while also leading the game in several other categories.

“He’s a really great player that gets taken advantage of because he’s been really good for a long time,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “We really appreciate him. I thought he played a great game on both ends of the floor.”

Brown encouraged Tatum during warmups to come out aggressive, and that’s exactly what he did. The All-NBA wing scored eight points in the opening four minutes of the game and 12 total in the first frame. He drove to the rack relentlessly, earning nine trips to the free-throw line, where he made each attempt.

Al Horford said after the game that it was only a matter of time before Tatum put forth one of his classic, dominant efforts.

“JT is a special player,” Horford said. “He always figures it out. He’s the last guy I worry about.”

Holiday also had a special night. He scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half, logging his highest-scoring game since Feb. 9 (20 points against Washington).

Scoring at high volume isn’t typically part of Holiday’s role on this team, but it’s what the Celtics needed out of him Saturday night, and he delivered at elite efficiency.

“Jrue was amazing tonight, and Jrue is kind of the glue that keeps us all together,” Tatum said. “He literally does everything that we need him to, sacrifices sometimes taking single-digit shots a couple games in a row. On a night where he can attack the mismatches, he can post up guys, he can obviously shoot the three. When he's being aggressive and in that great rhythm, it makes us that much better.”

When those two guys are both in a rhythm simultaneously, it makes the Celtics that much harder to beat. Add in Brown's performance, plus the bounce-back effort from the defense, and you've got a recipe for a convincing win.

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Tatum, Holiday Bounce Back on Offense, Help C’s Respond with Game 3 Win

The Cleveland Cavaliers cut what had been a 23-point deficit down to single digits partway through the fourth quarter of Game 3 Saturday night, to which Payton Pritchard responded with one of the biggest momentum-swinging shots of his career.

With 7:42 left in the game, Boston’s backup point guard confidently rose up from the Cavs’ logo and buried the triple to put the C’s up by 12 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

That long-range dagger kickstarted a 10-5 run, and Boston led by double digits for the remainder of the game en route to a 106-93 win to take a 2-1 series lead.

Q4 7:42 - [BOS 91-79] Pritchard 3pt Shot: Made (5 PTS)

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Keys to the Game: Celtics 106, Cavaliers 93

Boston Celtics

The Cleveland Cavaliers have wrestled home-court advantage away from the top-seeded Boston Celtics.

The next task is not giving it right back.

After splitting two games in Boston, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers look to make a big statement when they host the Celtics on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference second-round series.

After being crushed 120-95 in Game 1, Cleveland thrashed the Celtics on Boston's home floor in Game 2 and notched a 118-94 victory.

Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell understood that it was a huge breakthrough but immediately turned the attention to Game 3 -- suddenly the most important game of the playoffs for both teams.

"It's always good to get a win on the road, but at the end of the day, it's one game," Mitchell said after scoring 29 points. "So it was good to get the win. We did a lot of really positive things. But, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.

"You got to go take care of home court. It's nice to get this win, but at the end of the day, we got one day to prepare and get ready to protect home court."

Boston is looking to bounce back quickly after it appeared it was going to roll through the series following the dominating Game 1 performance.

Trailing by as many as 29 in the second half of Game 2, after being tied at halftime, was a stunning development to the Celtics.

"Just get ready for Saturday," said Boston star Jayson Tatum, who had 25 points in Game 2. "Nobody was in there defeated, deflated. I mean, you never want to lose, especially in the playoffs.

"There's a lot of things we can learn from, and we get it -- the world thinks we're never supposed to lose. We're supposed to win every game by 25. And it's just not going to be like that all the time."

Mitchell was one of three 20-point scorers for Cleveland on a night in which his club shot 54.7 percent from the field. Evan Mobley had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Caris LeVert scored 21 points off the bench.

Mobley was a big factor on the defensive end as Boston shot just 41.3 percent from the field. Tatum and Jaylen Brown (19 points) were both 7 of 17 from the field and Derrick White (10 points) was 3 of 11. White scored 25 points in Game 1.

"That's where he's at his best, continuing to protect the paint," Mitchell said of Mobley. "Especially having him guard on the ball, and being able to deter them on their shots and layups. ...

"It's not easy attacking Evan like that, so just having him able to be that dominant, but also give us offensive production, was big time."

Mobley's play in the interior was huge with center Jarrett Allen (ribs) again sidelined. Allen has missed five straight games and is listed as questionable for Saturday.

Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis (calf) will miss his fourth straight game.

The Celtics went an NBA-best 64-18 during the regular season, so adversity was served in a minimum dose.

Brown, though, was highly concerned with the Game 2 loss.

"It was just a bad game," Brown said. "Obviously we didn't shoot the ball very well, but defensively it was an unacceptable performance, and I think that's where we look at that, and I'm the most upset.

"Defensively we gave up 118 points, and on top of that we lost the rebound battle (44-31). So we didn't help ourselves."

Now Boston finds itself in a big battle to regain control of the series.

"We don't expect it to be easy," Tatum said. "These are good teams we're playing, second round of the playoffs. So this is going to be fun the rest of this series and especially come Saturday. We've bounced back plenty of times."

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5/11 Game 3 Preview: Celtics at Cavaliers

Theresa Grannum

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Photos: Cavaliers vs. Celtics – May 9th, 2024

BOSTON – A double-digit Game 1 win followed by a double-digit Game 2 defeat.

The Boston Celtics have been here before, and they know how to respond.

The vibe after Thursday night’s 118-94 Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers felt similar to that of two weeks ago when the C’s dropped the second game of their first-round matchup to the Miami Heat. Although this is a new series against a different team, Boston’s mindset heading into Game 3 will be the same as before: to channel the frustration of their loss into motivation for a bounce-back performance. And they're hoping for the same Game 3 result as before.

Such frustration was evident when Jaylen Brown took the podium and picked apart the team’s abnormally poor shooting and defensive performances. In the series-tying loss, Boston shot just 22.9 percent from 3-point range, nearly 16 percentage points lower than their postseason average, while on the other end allowing the opposition to score almost 16 points more than their postseason average.

“Obviously we didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight, but defensively it was an unacceptable performance, and I think that’s where I’m the most upset,” Brown said. “Defensively we gave up 118 points, and on top of that, we lost the rebound battle. So we didn’t help ourselves tonight.”

Brown went on to explain that there is only one way to counter a loss like this.

“You take it on the chin, you learn from it, and you come out and put your best foot forward for the next game," he said. "We need to be ready to respond.”

The Celtics have responded to almost every loss throughout the season, including their 104-84 bounce-back win over Miami in Game 3 of Round 1.

While they felt frustrated following their latest loss, they certainly did not feel demoralized.

“Nobody in there was defeated or deflated,” Jayson Tatum described of the scene inside the Celtics’ locker room. “I mean, you never want to lose, especially in the playoffs … But the world thinks we’re never supposed to lose; we’re supposed to win every game by 25. And it’s just not going to be like that all the time. So we don’t expect it to be easy. It’s a good team we’re playing in the second round of the playoffs. It’s going to be fun, the rest of this series, especially come Saturday. We’ve bounced back plenty of times. We lost what, 18 games this year? So I’d like to think that we responded pretty well the few times that we did lose.”

Part of the reason the Celtics have responded so well following their losses lies in their head coach’s philosophy of taking an even-keeled approach regardless of the result.

“You treat it the same way you would a win,” Joe Mazzulla said fresh off of the defeat. “You come in tomorrow, you watch film, and you get better for Game 3.”

Added the veteran Al Horford, “That's what we did the last time, and we have to understand we're going into Saturday into a hostile place. It's going to be a battle. We just have to make sure we're at our best. I'm confident that we'll be ready to go."

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C's Say They'll be Ready to Respond in Cleveland After Game 2 Loss

After dominating Cleveland in Game 1 of the East Semifinals, the Celtics got a taste of their own medicine in Game 2.

The Cavaliers blew open a 54-54 halftime tie with a 36-24 third-quarter advantage, riding a 16-point frame from Donovan Mitchell who came alive after scoring just six points in the first half.

Cleveland kept rolling into the final frame, going up by as many as 29 points before coming away with a 118-94 series-tying win.

Q2 8:30 - [BOS 37-33] Holiday Running Dunk Shot: Made (4 PTS) Assist: Tatum (4 AST)

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Keys to the Game: Cavaliers 118, Celtics 94

The visiting Cleveland Cavaliers look to even their second-round Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Boston Celtics when the teams play Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Thursday night.

The top-seeded Celtics pulled away in the second half of Game 1 to earn a 120-95 victory on Tuesday.

"Obviously there's a lot of areas that we can improve on," Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "Facing a team like Boston, I think it's good to be able to play them and see them, and then play them again because you're not used to the speed, the spacing, the shooting -- all those things -- until you get up against them. Especially coming from the series that we just came from (against Orlando) that was more of a half-court slugfest. ... We'll learn from it and we'll be better on Thursday."

Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell said the improvement has to start on offense. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers have failed to score 100 points in six of their eight playoff games.

"We got (42) 3s up and we hit 11," said Mitchell, who scored a game-high 33 points in Game 1. "I think the biggest thing now is just being able to hit and knock them down."

Boston received 32 points from Jaylen Brown and 25 from Derrick White, who sank seven 3 pointers.

"I think the most important thing is to win," White said. "I've said before, it doesn't matter if I score zero or score however many I scored (Tuesday). When we win, I'm doing enough."

Cleveland was held to 15 points in the second quarter and trailed 59-49 at halftime. Boston led by 15 points after three quarters and opened the fourth on a 10-2 run.

"I thought we created some open shots," Bickerstaff said. "I think we got some of the looks we were looking for; they just didn't go. I think we missed four or five layups in that second quarter. Typically, we make those. We got some open 3s from guys who we wanted to take them. We'll make more of those as the series goes along."

Brown said it would be a mistake to read too much into the Game 1 result, especially since Cleveland had little time to recover after it advanced with a Game 7 victory over Orlando on Sunday.

"Anything can happen," Brown said. "It's the NBA playoffs. We're just taking it one game at a time and that's all we can control. And we try to come out, be the harder playing team. We stick to our agenda and we let the chips fall where they may. It's gonna be tough for a team to have to beat us four times. But as long as we come out, we execute both ends, we're the harder playing team, I think we'll be fine."

After Thursday, the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 (Saturday) and Game 4 (Monday). The Celtics won two of their three games against the Cavaliers during the regular season, but Cleveland won the only game it played at home.

"They came out here and did what they were supposed to do," Mitchell said. "Now we have to find a way to steal Game 2."

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5/9 Game 2 Preview: Cavaliers at Celtics

BOSTON – Luke Kornet brought the bark and the bite to Game 1 Tuesday night, serving as a spark off the bench in Boston’s 120-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 7-foot-2 backup center walked the walk with 10 rebounds, including six on the offense end, to go along with four points, two assists, and two blocked shots in 21 minutes of action.

And he talked the talk – or barked the bark – bellowing like a beagle after one particular offensive board late in the second quarter to the delight of both his teammates and the crowd at TD Garden.

“That’s just the dog in him,” Jrue Holiday described Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve got a bunch of dogs on this team, and he’s the big dog.”

Kornet has always been an emotional contributor, whether he is playing or not. He’s one of the loudest, more supportive members of the bench mob. And when he’s in the game, he consistently creates joy from his efforts, often leading to hilarious celebrations.

Payton Pritchard, for one, can’t get enough of Kornet’s blazing personality.

“I told Luke today, I like it when he shows emotion,” said the reserve point guard. “The crowd likes it too and we all like it. Basketball games should be played with emotion and with fire, and we want more of that.”

Holiday agrees, noting how contagious Kornet’s competitive fire is.

“I think it’s just something that's in us, really,” Holiday said. “Luke just helps us bring it out.”

However, Kornet is far more than just a personality. He is proving to be a legitimate contributor to this championship-contending squad, especially now that he’s being asked to step up and help fill the void of injured Kristaps Porzingis.

He is a force on the offensive glass, a strong rim-protector, a solid decision-maker, a fearless screener, and has a valuable basketball IQ overall.

“Luke reads the game, he’s an intelligent basketball player,” said Jaylen Brown. “He knows the right reads at the right time. And when he’s playing well, he’s not thinking; he’s just out there playing. He’s a 7-footer, so he contests shots at the rim and does a good job of just doing his job day in and day out, and that’s what we need. Luke has been a great benefit this whole year, but I’m looking forward to him stepping up and making big plays in the playoffs with Porzingis being out.”

Kornet’s recent play has been consistent with the other occasions when he’s been asked to step up throughout the season. In other words, Luke is no fluke.

He led the league in true shooting percentage, second in effective field-goal percentage, third in shot contests per 36 minutes, fourth in net rating, fifth in offensive rating, and sixth in offensive rebound percentage.

Plus, his presence brings a different dynamic to how Boston can operate, says head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“When he's on the floor, our spacing is different and he generates some good looks for us because of his ability to freelance and make reads on the offensive end,” Mazzulla said. “Between that and, I thought his pick-and-roll defense was good. He's been good for us all year and he's got to continue to be physical on both ends of the floor.”

And he’s got to continue to match his competitive bark with his ferocious bite.