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Wrap-Up -- In the Cavaliers’ victories this season, the formula has been very consistent. Unfortunately, the same could be said of their losses.
As they had in Wednesday night’s loss in Oklahoma City, the Wine & Gold competed hard for the better part of the first half before Boston’s big run before intermission put them in catch-up mode the rest of the way.
They never did – with Boston leading by as many as 33 points in the second stanza and hanging on for the lopsided 128-95 win on Friday night at the TD Garden.
The contest was knotted at 47-apiece with just over four minutes to go before half, but the Celtics made a major push just before intermission that had the Wine & Gold reeling over the final two periods.
Former Cavalier Kyrie Irving set the tone for Boston, netting 19 of his game-high 29 points before half, flummoxing rookie Collin Sexton on both ends of the floor.
The Wine & Gold featured five players in double-figures, led once again by Jordan Clarkson off the bench.
The league’s 4th-leading bench scorer tallied 16 points on 5-for-14 shooting, including 3-of-5 from long-range and 3-of-4 from the stripe in just 22 minutes of work.
Sexton got his sea legs after halftime, netting six of his 15 points in the third period – going 6-of-18 from the floor overall to go with four boards and four assists in the loss.
The newest Cavalier – Alec Burks, acquired in a Thursday deal that sent Kyle Korver to Utah – also registered 15 points on Friday night, going 4-for-11 to go with six boards, four assists and a team-high two steals.
With a meeting with Toronto looming on Saturday night, Tristan Thompson didn’t see action in the fourth quarter. In his three quarters of work, however, the blue collar big man notched another double-double – finishing with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Rodney Hood was the only other Cavalier in double-figures, putting up a quiet 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting.
Six other Celtics besides Irving tallied double-figures and every Boston player that suited up scored.
Boston outdid Cleveland on the boards, 47-36, and outscored them in the paint, 54-32 – canning 17 three-pointers to offset a disparity at the free throw line that saw the Wine & Gold attempt 35 free throws to just 16 for the Celts.
Clarkson provides another spark off the bench with 16 points.
Turning Point -- Despite not taking a lead in the first quarter, the Cavaliers stayed with Boston throughout the first quarter – and they were right in it through most of the second, even taking a brief three-point lead on Jordan Clarkson’s triple at the 8:24 mark.
Both teams went back and forth from there and Tristan Thompson’s tip-in with 4:15 to play before intermission tied the game at 47-apiece.
But Kyrie Irving put the Celtics back up three with a bomb on Boston’s next possession – keying a 15-5 run to end the half, putting Brad Stevens’ squad up double-digits and putting the Wine & Gold behind the 8-ball for the rest of the night.
By the Numbers – 13.5, 12.6 …Tristan Thompson’s scoring and rebounding averages over the last dozen games – netting nine double-doubles, averaging 5.6 offensive boards and shooting 55 percent from the floor over that stretch.
Quotable – Coach Larry Drew, on Friday’s loss and Cleveland’s date with Toronto on Saturday …
”We had moments in the first half where I thought we played well but there were just some plays where we just got out-toughed, and that was the most disheartening thing about this game. Can’t take anything away from them, they’re a good team, but hopefully we can learn from this type of a game because we have another one tomorrow night against a team that is very, very similar. We’ve got to be prepared for a war because it’s going to be a tough game.”
Up Next -- Following their two-game roadie, the Wine & Gold start out the month of December with four of their next five games at The Q – beginning with Saturday night’s showdown against Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors. The Cavaliers hit the road for a one-gamer – taking on the Nets on Monday night in Brooklyn before returning home for a three-game homestand that begins two nights later against the Warriors. On Friday night, Cleveland welcomes the Kings to town before wrapping up the set the following night with John Wall and the Wizards’ first visit to Quicken Loans Arena this season.