*** On Wednesday night, Boston sent the Cavaliers home for the summer. But the Cavs can also head into the offseason with their heads held high after giving the top-seeded Celtics all they could handle despite playing Game 5 without their leading scorer, leading rebounder and their top reserve. After pushing Boston hard in Game 4 without Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, the Wine & Gold were without Caris LeVert – out with a left knee injury – for Thursday’s deciding Game 5. Still, the Cavs battled Boston to eight ties and seven lead-changes before the Celtics broke the game open in the fourth quarter. Evan Mobley had the best Playoff game of his young career and Marcus Morris Sr. outscored Boston’s entire second unit in the loss.
*** The Cavaliers used 21 different starting lineup combinations over the course of the regular season, but were forced to go with fivesome No. 22 on Thursday night – one that featured Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Dean Wade. Despite the improvised lineup, the scrappy Cavs never trailed by more than seven points in the first half. In the third quarter, Boston upped their advantage to a dozen points on Al Horford’s triple early in the period, but Cleveland clawed back to within three, 86-83, early in the fourth. But the Celtics went on a 13-2 run from there, giving themselves enough room to hold the Cavs off the rest of the way.
*** On the night, the Celtics shot 53 percent from the floor and drilled 19 three-pointers. They outrebounded the Wine and Gold, 43-28, handed out 32 assist and held the Cavs without a fast break point. Cleveland stayed close by connecting on 48 percent shooting from the floor, handing out 25 assists of their own and committing just 10 turnovers.
*** Coach J.B. Bickerstaff on his squad’s resiliency in Game 5: “They gave it everything they had. They understood the moment, the amount of minutes they were going to have to play and they left it all out there. We just got beat by a team that had to play really well. They had guys step up, make huge plays, make big shots for them. But I thought our guys did a heck of a job competing.”
*** Evan Mobley was almost unstoppable in the final game of his third pro season – leading all scorers with a Playoff career-high 33 points, going 15-of-24 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the stripe, adding seven boards, four assists, a steal and a pair of blocked shots. In the Eastern Conference Semis against Boston, Mobley shot 63 percent from the floor, starting all five games at center for the injured Jarrett Allen, who missed the final eight games of the postseason. In 12 Playoff games this spring, Mobley recorded multiple blocks in eight of them.
Evan Mobley and Marcus Morris. Sr. | Cavs vs Celtics, Post Game 5 | 5.15.2024
*** Mobley talked about his strong performance postgame. “I’ve just got to stay in attack mode throughout the entire game. No matter what's going on, I feel like it just helps our team a lot. I feel like once I get to my spots to just elevate, raise up. I feel like my teammates have done a good job of instilling that confidence in me right here – talking to me throughout the game and throughout the season just helped me just build that confidence to just keep attacking and keep attacking. And I feel like today I did a good job of that.”
*** Marcus Morris Sr. had easily his best game as a Cavalier, and one of the best Playoff games of his 13-year career – leading all reserves with 25 points, going 10-of-13 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, adding three boards and a pair of steals in 33 excellent minutes of work off the bench.
*** Morris spoke postgame about the way the season ended and the rough hand J.B. Bickerstaff was dealt with the various injuries. “I mean obviously it didn't end the way it did, but just being able to deal with all the injuries the entire year. In a perfect world, we take (Boston) to seven games, but just for everything that went wrong that could have gone wrong and still be resilient, still put together a great game plan. Last two games we fought, we had them where we wanted them.”
*** Max Strus and Darius Garland were the only other Cavaliers to score in double-figures, although both struggled from the floor on Wednesday night. Strus finished with 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-7 from deep, but still managed to hand out a team-high-tying nine assists. Garland also tallied nine assists to go with 11 points, going 4-of-17 on the night, adding a pair of steals in the loss.
*** Sam Merrill had a solid shooting night on his 28th birthday, going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc for nine points.
*** Cleveland’s center wasn’t the only one who had his best game of the postseason. Al Horford was outstanding for Boston on Wednesday, notching 22 points and a game-high 15 assists. The 38-year-old big man finished 8-of-13 from the floor, including 6-of-13 from deep, adding five assists and a game-high three blocks. Jayson Tatum notched his fourth double-double of the series – leading Boston with 25 points to go with 10 boards as the Celtics reached the Conference Finals for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.
*** In winning the series in five games, Boston grabbed the edge in the all-time series, 5-4. In 51 Playoff games between these two teams over the years, Boston now leads Cleveland, 26-25.
*** The Cavaliers head into the offseason with plenty of questions that’ll need to be answered. But they still have one of the best young cores in the East – when healthy – and have a first round pick in this June’s Draft to look forward to.