The NBA regular season continues with the Celtics hosting the Cavaliers. Previously, the Celtics had a record of 17 wins and 5 losses, which was the same as the Timberwolves in the West, tied for first place in the league, and sent away Smart, Gwee, Lowe and others in the offseason in exchange for Porzingis and Holiday The team's offensive and defensive ceiling has been significantly improved, and the two new signings will not seize the limelight. The Celtics are sixth in the league in offensive efficiency and fourth in defensive efficiency this season, with an 11-0 record at home and no defeat. The team's starting Big Four + White can contribute an average of 96.6 points per game, if you have to find shortcomings, the team's bench lineup is not deep enough, and only Hauser, Horford, and Pritchard are left with three real rotation points.
The Cavaliers, as the biggest dark horse in the East last season, started this season with a record of 13 wins and 11 losses, ranking only ninth in the East, and the team only had two new signings, Niang and Strus, to maintain full attendance, and people like Mitchell, Garland, Mobley and others have more or less had injuries, and the team lineup has been uneven. Ranked 8th in the league in defensive efficiency, but ranked 24th in the league in points per game and offensive efficiency. There was a meeting two days ago, and the Celtics narrowly beat the Cavaliers by seven points. Cavaliers starts: Garland + Mitchell + Strus + Wade + Allen, Celtics starters: Holiday + White + Jaylen Brown + Tatum + Porzingis.
At the beginning of the game, Tatum assisted Holiday and White to score 5 points one after another, Mitchell broke through a one-arm dunk, and then Garland shot + Mitchell chased three points, Brown singled inside and outside the flower, and Porzingis's empty dunk stopped the Cavaliers. In the middle of the game, Mitchell began to attack and kill, Tatum pulled three points + Brown accelerated to break through the dunk + Porzingis' three-point shot, the Cavaliers couldn't prevent any of them, and the offensive end could only rely on Strus and LeVert to barely bite the score. Hauser and Tatum continued to rain three-pointers in the second half, and Mitchell and Garland relied on jumpers to stop the bleeding, and the Celtics led the Cavaliers 33-24 at the end of the first quarter.
Coming back in the second quarter, Horford's single throw, Hauser's three-pointer at the top of the arc, and Tatum's killing, the Celtics had a tendency to widen the difference, but Garland and Wade's inside and outside shots immediately stopped the Green Army. Porzingis hit a 3-pointer in the middle of the game, Brown hit a mid-range shot and hit a three-pointer in the bottom corner, and the Cavaliers offense relied on Mitchell's singles. In the second half, Holiday + Porzingis took turns to attack, Strus and Mitchell responded with a three-point rain, the two teams maintained about 10 points and fell into a tug-of-war, at the end of the half, the Celtics led the Cavaliers 65-54, Brown scored 18 points alone, Tatum scored 11 points, the Cavaliers Mitchell scored 21 points, and LeVert, the second highest scorer, only had 7 points!
At the beginning of the second half, Mitchell singled Tatum, LeVert hit a three-pointer in the bottom corner, Holiday responded with blossoming inside and out, and Brown also continued his hot hand. In the middle of the section, Allen hooked up and threw + LeVert made a three-pointer to chase the score, and Tatum immediately scored 4 points in a row to stop the Cavaliers. LeVert was full of firepower, plus Okro hit a three-pointer, the Cavaliers caught up with the score again, Hauser hit another three-point shot to stop the bleeding, Brown was very efficient in singles, Mitchell threw + LeVert burst out to bite the score. At the end of the quarter, Garland scored a strong layup, and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, and at the end of the third quarter, the Cavaliers chased it to 87-90, and LeVert broke out in the third quarter, and the Celtics lineup Tatum was relatively inefficient and couldn't match.
In the fourth quarter, Tatum hit a difficult jumper from the back, and then hit another three-pointer, Holiday made a layup to reopen the difference, and Allen and Mitchell scored consecutive singles. In the middle of the period, Mitchell made consecutive kills, and White immediately responded with a three-pointer. At the decisive moment, Garland's three-pointer + LeVert broke through to a layup to chase only 5 points, Holiday hit a high tossed board, and Tatum accelerated and dunked. In the last 2 minutes, Tatum broke through for a layup + Horford scored three points to kill the suspense of the game, and Garland's three-pointer could not change the outcome. In the end, the Celtics defeated the Cavaliers 116-107 and ushered in a 12-game winning streak at home! Cavaliers statistics, Mitchell 31 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Garland 19 points, LeVert 26 points and 5 assists.
Celtics statistics, Brown 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Tatum 27 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists, Porzingis 18 points and 6 rebounds, White 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, Holiday 15 points and 4 assists, Horford 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, Hauser 9 points. Tatum was tough in the fourth quarter, and Porzingis was obviously affected by previous injuries and had a mediocre feel, but for the regular season, the Celtics' Big Four were enough.