Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
On May 8, Beijing time, the second round of the NBA playoffs ushered in the Eastern focus battle, and the Cleveland Cavaliers went to Boston to challenge the Celtics away. In the regular season this season, the Cavaliers have a record of 48 wins and 34 losses, ranking fourth in the East; The Celtics have a 64-18 record and rank first in the league. The two teams met three times in the regular season, with the Cavaliers having a slight disadvantage with one win and two losses. Both sides have been plagued by injuries on the inside, the Cavaliers' Allen has missed the last three games due to a rib injury, but he is expected to return in this series, and the Celtics' Erzingis has missed two games due to a calf injury, and will most likely miss the entire second round, which is relatively good news for the Cavaliers. Before the game, the American media ESPN also gave a winning rate prediction: the Celtics have a winning rate of 69.3%, and the Cavaliers are 64.1%, obviously, the Cavaliers are not favored.
In terms of injuries, Allen, Dean Wade, Jerome, and Craig Porter are out due to injuries on the Cavaliers' side, and the starting five are: Garland, Mitchell, Strus, Okoro, Mobley; Celtics' Porzingis is absent and the starting lineup is: Brown, Tatum, Horford, Holiday and White.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Jaylen Brown hit a three-point shot on the wing to give the Celtics the lead, and then made two fouls and made two free throws, White received a pass from Horford at the top of the arc and raised his hand, and the Celtics played a perfect 10-2 start and stopped the Cavaliers directly. After the timeout, Mitchell covered with the help of his teammates, made a three-point stop at the top of the arc, and then broke through to the restricted area to meet Horford's small throw, scoring 5 points in a row to successfully overtake the score, and the Cavaliers had hit 5 three-pointers in the half quarter, and his hand was hot. Jaylen Brown hit Mitchell with his back, turned around and hit a solid jumper on the weak side, followed by a fast-break layup, and has scored 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting. Mitchell also hit a layup in the face of Holiday to finish the first quarter and the Cavaliers trailed the Celtics by six points at 34-40.
In the first quarter, Mitchell and Jaylen Brown had an offensive battle, and both of them had a good hand, but it was still not good for the Cavaliers, after all, the Celtics scored more points. Coming back in the second quarter, Garland didn't look at the second pass to Morris, who faced the empty Sky Blue and actually came to cross the bridge, which was outrageous and demoralizing, and the Cavaliers had already shot 0 of 8 at the beginning of the second quarter. The Celtics took advantage of the victory, and as Holiday countered with an easy layup, the team had a 13-point lead and stopped the Cavaliers again. After the timeout, Strus received the ball at the top of the arc, and finally hit a knife to stop the bleeding for the team, Horford could respond with a two-point basket, and Jaylen Brown broke through to make a layup. Mitchell steals and goes on a fast break, obviously lacking in physical strength, but is stealed by White, throws after counterattacking, encounters Tristan Thompson's pegboard hat, Okoro misses a three-point shot, and the first half ended, the Celtics lead the Cavaliers by 10 points at 59-49.
Halftime data, on the Celtics' side, Jaylen Brown shot 7 of 11 and scored 20 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist; Tatum was 4-of-11 from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range, scoring 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks; White hit three three-pointers and contributed 11 points and two assists; Cornet grabbed eight rebounds and dished out two blocks in the half, becoming the Celtics' biggest surprise in the first half. On the Cavaliers' side, Mitchell was 6-of-13 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range, scoring 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists; Garland was 3-of-10 from the field and 1-of-5 from three-point range, contributing seven points, three rebounds and two assists.
Yibian fought again, Mitchell broke through to the layup, but was rejected by the Tatum hat behind him, and then White and Holiday fired one after another, hitting 4 three-pointers, the Celtics have stretched the difference to 14 points, Brown held the ball and pushed Mitchell directly to the basket, completed the two-handed dunk, Garland was swept by Brown's elbow after passing, covered his head and fell to the ground in pain, and couldn't get up for a long time. White hit a step-back jumper at the top of the arc against the defense, hit a three-point whistle, Mitchell also fought, threw himself into the air, and scored a layup against Kornet, White made a three-point stop at the top of the arc, and has scored 25 points on 7-of-11 three-point shooting. Mitchell hit a breakaway and Pritchard hit a three-pointer from beyond the arc to give the Cavaliers a 15-point lead at 77-92.
Jaylen Brown and White combined for 49 points on 18-of-28 shooting in the first three quarters, Tatum had 13 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-17 shooting, and Mitchell scored 33 points. In the fourth quarter, Mitchell went to rest, Horford and Jaylen Brown hit three three-pointers in a row, and the Celtics had stretched the difference to 24 points and directly stopped the Cavaliers. After the pause, the Cavaliers' offense still did not improve, Mitchell was powerless, the Cavaliers surrendered early, and in the end, the Celtics won a big victory 120-95, and the score came to 1-0.
In terms of statistics, on the Cavaliers' side, Mitchell struggled to support himself, scoring 33 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, Garland was sluggish, 6 of 15, only 14 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, Strus had 5 points and 2 rebounds, Mobley Jr. had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists, and Okoro had 11 points and 1 rebound. On the Celtics' side, Brown scored 32 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, Tatum shot 7 of 19, 0 of 5 three-pointers, and cut 18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, Spurs veteran White broke out again and became the biggest contributor, 7 of 12 three-pointers, 25 points and 5 assists, Holiday 14 points and 6 rebounds, and Horford 7 points and 8 rebounds.