The Boston Celtics, number 1 in the NBA regular season and easy winners of the Miami Heat in the first round of the play-offs, successfully entered the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference on Tuesday. At home, they crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers (120-95), who had finished fourth in the conference then painfully defeated Orlando in the first round.
White’s three-point address is more than 58% successful
The match got off to a flying start, with Boston scoring 40 points in the first quarter alone (40-34). The Celtics then gradually distanced their opponents, leading by ten units at the break (59-49), then having up to sixteen points in advance (80-64, 30th). Finally, a 28-18 score in the last quarter got the better of Cleveland and launched Boston perfectly into this new series of play-offs.
Jaylen Brown was the strong man of the Massachusetts franchise, with 32 points scored (12/18 shooting including 4/6 three-pointers). The Boston Celtics also won, thanks to Derrick White’s precision on three-point shots (7/12) for a total of 25 pts. Jayson Tatum signed a double-double with 18 points scored (7/19 including 0/5 three-pointers) and 11 rebounds.
Boston played without Porzingis but dominated the rebound
More surprisingly, Boston was dominant on the rebound (55-38) while the Celtics were deprived of their pivot, the Latvian Kristaps Porzingis, who is recovering from a strained right calf. He is doubtful for the entire series against Cleveland.
In the ranks of the Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell was the most efficient with 33 points (12/25 including 4/11 at three points). Evan Mobley also “doubled” (17 pts and 13 rebounds).
“We wanted to set the tone on defense and keep them under 100 points,” commented Jaylen Brown. But we feel like we have an answer for everything (on offense). We play the game the right way. We see what they want to do and we play accordingly. » Game 2 will be played on Thursday, still in Boston.