BOSTON — Everyone knew about the deal. The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Tuesday’s game against the reigning champions with a 15-0 record, the second-best start to a season in history, and it was an NBA Cup game.
“We knew,” Boston Celtics guard Derrick White said. “Everybody knew.”
The Celtics reminded the Cavaliers in front of a national television audience that the Eastern Conference still runs through Boston. They made five of their first eight 3-point attempts, built an 18-8 advantage midway through the opening quarter and never trailed for a 120-117 victory. Cleveland never quit.
Boston pushed its lead to 65-48 at halftime, making nine more 3-pointers on 11 attempts in the second quarter. We could call it a barrage if it wasn’t so expected. This is what the Celts do. Their 51.1 3-point attempts lead the league by nearly six per game. Even with a medium conversion rate, they sink nearly 20 triples a night. Do it on Tuesday the 22nd. Better keep up if you ever want that math to work in your favor.
The Cavs couldn’t. They shot 10 for 29 from deep and were uphill all night as a result. It was a departure from their norm. Under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who learned during his time with the Golden State Warriors that the ball should never be held, they played faster and with more freedom.
Except it happened against Boston. “It’s not great,” Atkinson said of his team’s preparedness.
“The first thing we learned was strength and physicality,” he added. “They had playoff strength and physicality, we had regular season strength and physicality. And that’s why we were down 17 at halftime.”
They responded in the second half, cutting a 21-point deficit to 86-84 seven minutes into the third quarter. Some of that was the Celtics settling for contested threes rather than creating open ones. Most of that was the Cavaliers pounding the paint. Whether it was Donovan Mitchell pulling Neemias Queta off the dribble or Cleveland’s bigs posting smaller defenders, the Cavs outscored Boston 60-36 indoors.
Credit goes to Cleveland for not getting an undefeated record, but the Celtics answered that call as well.
“It’s simple: We just locked down on defense,” said Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who had 33 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. “We’ve been in that situation a million times before where it’s time to win.”
So they did, which could be interpreted as a bad sign for the Cavaliers, who saw this game as a measure of their seriousness as a contender. However, Evan Mobley came to a different conclusion.
“From what I saw out there, we could beat anybody,” Cleveland’s rising star said.
Is the feeling different than last year, when Boston ousted Cleveland in a second-round playoff series?
“Not much, honestly,” added Mobley (22 points, 11 rebounds). “It was the same last year. We were there. We lost the series, but most of the games we were there the whole time.”
Can defeat the Celts and will be beating the Celtics are two different things. For as many positives as the Cavaliers took from their first loss of the season, this is it: Boston will soon re-instate All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis, unlocking another dimension for a team that won a title largely without him.
The Celtics assigned Porzingis to their G League affiliate on Monday. Instead of sending him to Maine, they brought the entire development team to Porzingis so he could simulate serious game action for the first time since the surgery, sources told Yahoo Sports. Those in attendance were pleased with his performance, which a) can be expected of anyone providing this information and b) better than the alternative.
Either way, Porzingis’ return is now a matter of weeks, not months, even if he may not be available when the two teams meet again on Dec. 1. That’s another measuring stick. This one fell short of the Cavs, who look different than they did last season, but are still a level below a fully healthy version of the reigning champs.