Mitchell and Allen are both out with injuries
The NBA Eastern Conference semifinals ushered in the G4 matchup between the Celtics and the Cavaliers, and the Green Army, which led 2-1, was determined to win the match point in this game. Cleveland, playing at home, are aiming for an equalizer. In this campaign, Porzingis continued to miss the game due to injury. Cleveland's inside giants Jarrett Allen, star Donovan Mitchell, and fierce Jerome and Porter are all absent due to injury. LeVert was promoted to the starting line-up and was paired with Garland, Mobley, Strus and Okoro. Boston's starting five are still Tatum, Brown, Holiday, White and Horford. NBA superstar LeBron James came to the sidelines to watch the game against his former club, Cleveland.
LeBron James watched from the sidelines
Refuse 15 points reversal! Tatum Brown 60+19, the Green Army narrowly defeated the Cavaliers to win the match point! Garland 30+7!
Full game review
At the beginning of the first quarter, Holiday made a steal, Brown missed a single shot, Strus hit a long shot, Horford made a layup, Holiday made another steal, and Brown missed 2 free throws. LeVert hit a throw-up, Strus hit a long-range shot, and the Cavaliers went on an 8-2 run and Mazzulla called a timeout. Tatum and Brown hit outside shots one after another, Tatum and Brown each scored points under the basket, and the Cavaliers called a timeout. LeVert missed a single shot, Tatum made a jumper, and Boston responded with a 12-0 run.
Tatum defends LeVert
LeVert scored from mid-range, Brown hit 2 free throws, and Cornet made a layup. Pritchard and Mobley exchanged long shots, LeVert scored a layup, Strus was fouled technically, and Tatum hit all three free throws. Merrill hit two long-range shots, Tatum scored on a layup, and Pritchard and Niang hit three-pointers. Cornet scored in the penalty area, and Tristan Thompson completed a dunk after a steal. Tatum scored four points in a row, LeVert hit a single, Horford hooked up to score, and LeVert scored from mid-range. At the end of the first quarter, the Celtics led 37-30, Tatum scored 16 points and 4 rebounds in the first quarter, and LeVert contributed 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Brown made a jumper, Holiday scored a layup, Strus and Holiday shot three-pointers, LeVert hit a continuous outside iron, Holiday scored in the restricted area, and the Celtics took a 13-point lead. LeVert hit a jumper and then made a steal, Thompson dunked, Brown made a layup, Garland scored a 3-pointer with a free throw, and Strus hit a three-pointer. Mazzulla called a timeout, Tatum was blocked, and Strus hit a long shot.
Holiday makes a strong basket
Holiday won from the outside and stabilized the situation for the Green Army. Garland hit a single shot, Mobley scored on a hook shot, and the Cavaliers went on a 17-5 offensive spree to close the deficit to one point. Kornet dunked, Holiday sent a big hat, Kornet rampaged in the box, and the Cavaliers called a timeout. Garland hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, Tatum hit 2 free throws, and Garland continued to return the favor with outside shots. Tatum scored on a layup, but then received a technical foul and Garland hit a free throw. Tatum hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer, and Garland's outside shot was hatted by Holiday from the outside. At halftime, the Celtics led 62-57, and Holiday scored 10 points in the first quarter.
In the first half, the Celtics led 37-26 in rebounding. Brown had 11 points and 4 boards, Tatum had 23 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Horford had 4 points and 3 boards, Holiday had 10 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals, Pritchard had 6 points, and Cornet had 8 points and 3 boards. Strus had 15 points, Mobley Jr. had 5 points and 4 boards, LeVert had 12 points, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, Garland had 11 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists, Merrill had 7 points, Niang had 3 points and Thompson had 4 points.
Mobley defends Tatum
In the rematch, Mobley scored 4 points under the basket, Brown scored a layup, Okoro and Garland scored inside, and the Cavaliers played an 8-2 offensive run to overtake the score. Mazzulla asked for a timeout, Brown hit 2 free throws, the Cavaliers hit consecutive outside irons, Horford scored on a mid-range shot, Brown hit 2+1, and LeVert hit a long-range shot. Tatum hit 2 free throws, and Brown hit the board to score. The Cavaliers called a timeout, Brown had his fourth foul, and Mobley made 1 of 2 free throws.
White scored from the outside, and Mobley scored five more points on a free throw. Holiday hit a three-pointer, Hauser scored on a layup, and Garland hit two on a single. Pritchard hit two free throws before hitting a long-range shot. At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics led 88-78, with Mobley scoring 10 points in the quarter and Brown scoring 9 points.
Brown attacks with the ball
In the final quarter, Garland hit a single shot, Tatum scored 2 goals in a row, and the Cavaliers hit the outside one after another. Garland hit a long-range three-pointer to break the deadlock, Kornet hit 1 of 2 free throws, Holiday scored from the outside, and Brown scored on a mid-range shot to give Boston a 15-point lead. Garland hit another three-pointer, Wade scored from the outside, and Mobley scored in the box. Brown hit 2 free throws, Garland made a good throw, Mazzulla challenged the penalty successfully, and Holiday and White hit the iron from the outside one after another.
Mobley scored in the box and the Cavaliers responded with a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to five points and see hope of a comeback victory. Tatum scored on the board, and LeVert forced the inside to score and colored. The Cavaliers challenged and the Strus missed from the outside, followed by a sixth foul, Brown hit a three-pointer, the Celtics sealed the win, and James left on the sidelines. With just 67 seconds left in the final game, the Cavaliers were eight points behind and called a timeout.
Holiday defends LeVert
Garland missed the outside line, Tatum had three non-sticks in the single, and Garland scored a layup to score 2+1 to extend Cleveland's life. White hit 2 free throws, Garland missed a single shot, Tatum hit 2 free throws, and LeVert scored on a jumper. As time ran out, the Celtics narrowly outnumbered 109-102 and rejected a 15-point comeback. The Green Army led 3-1 and won match point. The G5 showdown between the two sides will be played at home in Boston.
In terms of free throw statistics, the Celtics made 21 of 24 free throws and the Cavaliers made 5 of 7. In rebounding statistics, the Green Army crushed the opponent 48-32. However, the Celtics made 14 turnovers to their opponents' seven.
Tatum singled Tristan Thompson
Strus 15 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals + 5 3-pointers and the last 6 fouls left, Okoro 2 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Mobley Jr. 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in 8 of 13, LeVert contributed 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, Dean Wade 3 points, Merrill 7 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Thompson 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, and Niang 3 points.
Holiday was 6-of-11 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range to finish with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals (10 points in the second quarter), Horford contributed 6 points and 6 boards on 3-of-9 shooting, White had 5 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists on 1-of-6 shooting, Pritchard had 11 points, Cornet had 9 points and 6 boards, and Hauser had 2 points and 2 boards.
Tatum Brown 60+19
The Celtics double-star Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown achieved a simultaneous rampage. Tatum played 44 minutes, shooting 11-of-25, 2-of-8 from three-point range and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line, scoring a game-high 33 points, plus a double-double of 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Tatum scored 23 points in the first half (16 in the first quarter) and entered scoring mode early.
Tatum singled Mobley
At the decisive moment in the final quarter, Tatum also had a highlight performance of scoring consecutive points. At the same time, Tatum is also the rebounding king and the team's assist king. Tatum, who delivered the second-most steals of the game, also performed remarkably on the defensive end.
Brown played 35 minutes and finished with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist on 9-of-15 shooting, 2-of-3 three-pointers and 7-of-9 free throws. Brown shot 60 percent from the field and scored the second-highest percentage of the game. And, Brown grabbed the second-most rebounds on the team. In the second half, Brown went into scoring mode and scored 16 points. In the decisive moment, Brown hit a key three-pointer to help the Celtics close the game.
Brown goes to the basket
Tatum and Brown combined to score 60 points, 19 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals, leading the team to withstand the opponent's counterattack and also rejected the Cavaliers' 15-point reversal attempt.
Garland 30+7
Garland, the core of the Cavaliers' backcourt, did his best in this campaign. Garland played 40 minutes, shooting 12-of-27, 4-of-13 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, scoring a team-high 30 points, plus three rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Garland scored 19 points in the second half and 13 points in the final quarter, helping the Cavaliers hope of a comeback victory. As the all-game assist leader and the team's steal leader, Garland's performance on the tandem team and defensive end is also commendable.
Tatum defends Garland
In the case of unorganized personnel, Garland led the team to start a fierce battle with the opponent. Garland helped the Cavaliers keep the suspense of victory and defeat until the last moments, which can be described as a glorious defeat.