Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers Two top teams in the East provided a thrilling potential conference final preview at TD Garden, showing what NBA basketball looks like best on Friday night. This didn't always look like an instant classic. The Celtics took a big lead early in the first quarter, and then came back to make Cleveland more competitive and zoomed in the second half.
Celtics forward Sam Hauser filled in with a 3-pointer to lift Boston to 22-3 at the start of the game. The Celtics quickly forced him to leave, and Jason Tatum buried three more on the other end. Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson called the timeout and when Tatum went to the bench he had the Cavs a message saying “go to the f-home.”
Tatum had a reason to feel himself with a 25-3 lead at the moment. There's only one problem. There were still 41 minutes left in the game. Cleveland screamed to steal the victory, turning Tatham's estimate viral after the buzzer.
The Cavs defeated the Celtics 123-116, stealing a road victory over realistic champions. After Tatum told Cavs to “go to F- Home,” Cleveland went on to Boston 120-91 outscore Boston 120-91.
Tatum was spectacular at night, finishing with 37 shots with 46 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks. The Celtics superstar was red hot with 30 points in the first half, but he didn't make a 3-pointer after halftime as he only shot eight in 20 in the second half. He got much shorter when Tatum had the shot to give the Celtics a final chance late in the fourth quarter:
The Cavs were red and hot after a slow start. Cleveland ripped 39 3-pointers (43.6 percent) and 17 3-pointers (43.6 percent). Donovan Mitchell matched Tatum Blow for Blow to finish with 41 points on a 1/13rd shooting. Mitchell consistently reached the foul line on Boston's home floor. No one could stay in front of him, the fantastic defender Boston team.
A comeback from Cavs. See how they erased the Big Quarter lead in Boston's Big Quarter here:
The Cavs-Celtics Eastern Conference Finals series is extremely needed. This was an elite hoop.
