Boston Celtics Suffer a Disappointing Loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bounce Back with a Win Against the Denver Nuggets

The Boston Celtics, the defending champions, went up against their biggest rival in the Eastern Conference on Feb. 28, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and lost 123-116. 

The Cavaliers had earlier dethroned the Celtic’s position as the number one team in the east, and as of March 3, were on a ten game winning streak. 

The Celtics started off this game showing their dominance with a 25-3 run in the first 5:07 of the first quarter, which was dominated by three-point shooting.  Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Jayson Tatum, and Derrick White all knocked down threes during this stretch. 

However, the Cavaliers were not going to go away quietly. They started to knock down threes in the game and dominate in the paint. Many of their players stepped up; none more than Donovan Mitchell, who had 41 points to lead the Cavaliers. 

Three of their other starters scored 10 or more points. De’Andre Hunter, a new addition for the Cavaliers, scored 12 off the bench as well. Hunter helped lead the bench to contribute 33 points to the game. 

Although Tatum (46 points) and Brown (37 points) were unstoppable knocking down shots and scoring in the paint, the Celtics only had one other player, White, score 10 or more. Their bench also contributed only 6 points, all from Payton Pritchard. 

And while the Cavaliers were heating up, the Celtics offense plummeted. Their three-point shooting spark disappeared in the second half, where they only knocked down three 3s in the final 24 minutes of play. 

Ultimately though, the Celtics were playing without Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. This changed up starters and rotations, limiting the amount of players contributing and the bench points. 

The regular season series between these two teams is now tied up at 2-2. But, the Celtics are still a great team, and they should remain the favorites to win the championship. They showed this in their 110-103 win against the Denver Nuggets on March 2. 

Again, the Celtics were in control of this game early. Their play, though, was much more consistent throughout the game, and they were able to stay in control for the rest of it. They continued to be without Holiday and Porzingis, but it was a much more rounded effort for the Celtics. 

They limited the Nuggets better than the Cavaliers and were able to survive a second half surge from Jamal Murray through a more spread out scoring night. Five players finished in double figures and the Celtics had 28 points from their bench.