Cavs Comeback Comes Up Short Against Boston

*** In the second half of Sunday’s matchup, the Cavaliers dug themselves a second-half hole that they simply couldn’t rally their way out of, as their furious fourth-quarter flurry fell just short, dropping a 117-115 decision to Boston at Rocket Arena. 

Payton Pritchard led all scorers with 42 points and Jaylen Brown notched a triple-double for a Celtics squad that opened up a three-touchdown lead late in the third quarter before Cleveland came storming back to cut Boston’s edge to just four midway through the fourth. The Celtics would proceed to open up an 11-point bulge with just under two minutes to play, but again the Cavs battled back, getting to within a single point on Darius Garland’s triple with 1.2 seconds remaining. 

But Brown split a pair of free throws on the other end and Evan Mobley couldn’t get a shot off at the final buzzer as Cleveland dropped its third straight for the first time this season. 

“There were obviously two things – rebounding and the free throw disparity,” lamented Coach Kenny Atkinson. “That’s where we kind of lost the game. But the great thing about the NBA is that we have another shot at it tomorrow night. We’re going through it a little bit – three losses in a row – but the sky is not falling, we have a lot of things going on. I trust this group, love this group. We’ll go get one tomorrow.”

Mobley led the Cavaliers with 27 points and 14 boards – his fourth double-double in his last five outings – going 11-for-17 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from long-range, grabbing five of his rebounds off the offensive glass and adding four assists in the loss. 

Garland did his best work late – scoring 13 of his 21 points in the final period, going 7-for-16 from the floor overall, including 4-of-9 from deep, adding a team-high-tying eight assists. Donovan Mitchell finished with eight dimes of his own, adding 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting, along with seven boards and a team-best three steals. 

Jaylon Tyson was the only other Cavalier in double-figures, chipping in with 17 points, going 5-for-12 from three-point range, adding five boards, two steals and Cleveland’s only two blocked shots of the night. 

“I feel like we need to hit a different gear from the jump,” said Tyson, on the Cavs slow starts. “It’s a common theme. Even last year, we never start off good. We need to adjust the mindset going of getting going early and punching teams in the face. Because I feel like we're just getting hit, hit, hit and then we wait and get on cruise control and when the fourth quarter rolls around expect a miracle comeback.”

Overall, the Wine and Gold attempted 52 three-pointers – connecting on 20 – and just 13 free throws, three fewer than Jaylen Brown, Celtics went to the stripe 29 times. Boston’s Anfernee Simons led all reserves with 18 points in the win. 

*** Playing again without several rotational guys – including Jarrett Allen (finger), Sam Merrill (hand), Lonzo Ball (rest/knee management) – Cleveland got solid performances from the bench, notably rookie Tyrese Proctor, who chipped in with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, adding eight assists and Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who added seven points on 3-of-5 shooting. 

*** After falling to the Celtics on Sunday night, the Wine and Gold hit the road for the second half of a back-to-back, traveling to Indiana for a Monday night meeting with the Pacers. From there, it’s a nice three-game homestand over a four-day stretch – welcoming a trio of Western Conference teams to town, beginning with a Wednesday night matchup with the Blazers. On Friday night, the Spurs roll in followed by a Saturday night showdown against Steph Curry and the Warriors.