On May 12, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and the Cavaliers returned to their home court to play against the Celtics. In this game, Mitchell entered the state early, and the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, with the Celtics playing as a whole to take a nine-point lead in the first half, and a wave of 14-0 offensive in the second half stretched the difference to more than 20 points, and then the Cavaliers fought back, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful. In the end, the Celtics defeated the Cavaliers 106-93 on the road and took a 2-1 lead.
In this game, the starting lineups of both teams were not adjusted, and Mitchell hit two three-pointers in a row from the outside to take a 6-2 lead. Tatum responded, Holiday scored under the basket, Tatum scored three more points, and the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, with the score alternating leads. Brown broke through and scored, Okoro counterattacked, Wade scored three points, Hauser came up and scored three points, Tatum broke through and dunked, Strus hit a three-pointer, Holiday immediately replied, the two teams went back and forth, Mitchell broke through and scored, and the Cavaliers fell behind 28-30 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, the two teams were still inseparable, Hauser scored three points, and the Cavaliers felt a decline, unable to stand up and pay back, but fortunately, Mitchell scored three points to stop the bleeding. Brown broke through, Mitchell scored three points again, Holiday hit a three-point shot, Brown broke through and scored, and the Celtics gradually opened up the difference. The Cavaliers completely relied on Mitchell, Brown scored consecutive breakaways, Tatum scored from mid-range, the difference was stretched to 10 points, Mobley dunked under the basket to stop the bleeding, Mitchell scored three points again, hit 6 in the first half, but the Cavaliers trailed the Celtics 48-57 in the first half.
Coming back in the second half, the Cavaliers suddenly went silent, and the Celtics launched a wave of 14-0 offensive to stretch the difference directly to 23 points. Mitchell broke through to make a layup to stop the bleeding, Strus hit a three-pointer, and the Cavaliers narrowed the gap somewhat, but they still trailed by 15 points after the third quarter. In the last quarter, the Cavaliers launched a counterattack, White scored three points to stabilize the situation, and Mitchell scored 2+1, but the Celtics always had someone to stand up and score points, and Mitchell didn't get too many opportunities to shoot, Garland couldn't make consecutive shots, and the game lost suspense. In the end, the Cavaliers lost to the Celtics 93-106 and fell behind 1-2.
In this game, Mitchell once again fell into isolation, hitting 7 three-pointers and scoring a game-high 33 points and 6 rebounds, but unfortunately did not get enough support. The Celtics were on fire, scoring 61 points, including Tatum with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, Brown with 28 points and 9 rebounds, and Holiday with 18 points.