The Cavs offense once again struggled against the reigning champs.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ offense didn’t show up until midway through the second quarter as they fell behind by 20. Cleveland made a valiant effort to make it a four-point game late in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Boston Celtics as they came away with a 112-105 victory to take the season series.
If you told someone before the game that Boston would only connect on 28.9% of their three-point shots you likely would’ve thought the Cavs would come away with the win. But, for the second time in three outings against the Celtics, the Cavs couldn’t hit an outside shot. They went from beyond the arc which led to their defeat.
The Cavs offense is more than just their three-point shooting, but at the same time, you can’t have a good offense if you’re unable to finish outside looks to that degree.
It didn’t help Cleveland that Darius Garland got off to a rough start. A good second half allowed him to finish with a respectable 25 points, but starting 2-8 from the field in the first half is part of the reason the offense struggled early.
Evan Mobley also struggled in the matchup with Boston. He didn’t have nearly the impact he did in the playoffs or in the first matchup of the season which caused him to be benched for a majority of the fourth quarter. Mobley contributed just 7 points on 3-14 shooting with 5 rebounds.
The Cavs likely weren’t able to overcome two of their three best players struggling against Boston to come up with a win, but Kenny Atkinson’s choice to stick with Georges Niang as long as he did certainly didn’t help.
It’s fair to acknowledge that this has been a nice bounce-back season from Niang and also that this isn’t a matchup he should receive this many minutes in. His inability to rebound at a high level or defend wings in space makes him unplayable in games against Boston’s versatile wings. He likely wouldn’t have gotten these many minutes if Dean Wade was available, but it also underscores both the Cavs’ lack of size on the bench and their lack of trust in Jaylon Tyson.
Niang led the bench in minutes, provided just 5 points, 2 rebounds, and was a -13 which was tied for second worst on the team in 25 minutes.
The rebounding was more concerning than the poor offense. Boston, who isn’t a particularly strong offensive rebounding team (21st), was able to corral 33% of their misses (75th percentile), which translated to 15 offensive boards.
Donovan Mitchell was one of the few bright spots in the loss. He brought the energy on both ends of the floor. His 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists were instrumental in keeping this game competitive.
Jarrett Allen also had a solid showing as he contributed 17 points on 6-11 shooting with 18 rebounds.
The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum who finished with 22 points and 7 assists. Derrick White added 20 points and 5 rebounds.
The Cavs have now lost four straight games against the top three teams in each conference. This isn’t a reason to panic, but it does speak to how their inability to easily go small against teams like Boston, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Houston Rockets will be an issue unless both big men are playing at the top of their games.