CLEVELAND — Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, Jaylen Brown added 28 points and the Boston Celtics, who stumbled at home, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-93 in Game 3 on Saturday night and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. gave them a 2-1 lead. .
The top-seeded Celtics didn’t panic after losing Game 2 by 24 points on their home parquet floor.
That lackluster performance — Boston was favored by double digits — was reminiscent of the first round, when the Celtics lost Game 2 to Miami before winning three straight and eliminating the Heat. It was something.
“I just wanted to bounce back,” said Tatum, who added 13 rebounds. “We recently encountered some tough conditions on the road and suffered a disappointing loss. It was a good test for us to see how we would respond.”
Tatum scored on a 3-point play, and the Celtics scored 14 straight points to open the second half to take a 23-point lead.
That was too much for the Cavs, who overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to dominate Boston in March.
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points for Cleveland, but the All-Star guard aggravated a left knee injury in the fourth quarter and was sidelined.
With Boston in control with a 13-point lead, Mitchell left the court with 1:19 remaining and went straight to the locker room.
Cleveland got as close as nine points three times in the fourth inning, but the Celtics, who only made 8 of 35 3-point shots in Game 2, had Peyton Pritchard and Derrick White make back-to-back 3-point shots. This prevented the Cavs from making a comeback.
Game 4 will be played Monday night in Cleveland.
Trailing by 23 points, the Cavs couldn’t stop Tatum and fought back.
He cut Boston’s lead to 15 points by the end of the third inning and scored the first six points of the fourth, sending the towel-waving crowd at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse into a frenzy as they looked for another upset.
But whenever the Celtics needed a bucket, it went to either Tatum or Brown, who beat the Cleveland defense for layups or made tough, contested jumpers.
Evan Mobley scored 17 points and Darius Garland and Caris LeVert each added 15 for the Cavs, who lost at home for the first time in the playoffs.
Cleveland was once again without starting center Jarrett Allen, who missed his sixth consecutive game with a rib injury.
Allen has been out since Game 4 of the season opener against Orlando, and it’s unclear when or if he will be available.
Mitchell paced the Cavs with 23 points on six 3-pointers in the first half, but Cleveland couldn’t get enough points from the rest of its starters or bench, and at halftime the Celtics The lead increased to 57-48.
After the Celtics lost on their home floor in Game 2 despite being heavy favorites, manager Joe Mazzula said his message to his players heading into Game 3 was simple.
“Do what you can and do it better,” he said.
The Celtics got off to another cold start, missing their first two 3-pointers, but made 5 of 8 and led 30-28 after one.
Cleveland got back on track quickly with forward Dean Wade making his postseason debut after missing the past two months with a knee sprain.
Wade scored a career-high 23 points against Boston on March 5, when the Cavaliers overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter, sinking a 3-point shot with his first touch.
Boston center Kristaps Porzingis missed his fourth straight game with a calf strain.
