– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — If fighting against boredom was a consistent worry for the Boston Celtics in the midst of their defense of the NBA championship they earned five months ago, the team found the perfect shot of adrenaline arriving on its doorstep on Tuesday evening: a matchup with a history-making team, one whose intent is squarely focused on occupying the Eastern Conference throne the Celtics currently sit on.
Wake-up call received, and the Celtics, for the majority of their game against the league’s lone undefeated team, proved who the undisputed best team in the East is still, records not withstanding. At least for right now.
Jayson Tatum scored 33 points with 12 rebounds as the defending-champion Celtics handed the Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss of the season after 15 wins in a row with a 120-117 victory inside an electric TD Garden. Boston connected on 22 three-pointers, six of those by Tatum, as it saw all five of its starters score in double figures and Payton Pritchard score 13 off the bench.
Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 35 points for the Cavaliers, spurring Cleveland on its way to cutting a 21-point deficit down to two late in the third quarter. But Cleveland got no closer afterward, and after Mitchell’s two free throws with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter brought the Cavaliers within four, the Celtics broke the full-court press with ease and finished the possession with an Al Horford slam to seal the game.
“It’s simple. We just locked in on defense,” Tatum said about putting the game away late. “We’ve been in that situation a million times where it’s time to win.”
Cleveland was just the fourth team in NBA history to start a season with 15 consecutive wins, and that run is also the longest winning streak in franchise history.
“You want to be a part of history in that regard. But it’s a thing of the past. It’s over with. And, you know, it was a good run,” Mitchell said. “It was fun. When you’re playing basketball, good basketball, and obviously winning games — whether it’s blowouts, close games, come-from-behind wins — you enjoy these moments.
“It’s great to be part of history. We wish we had kept it going,” he said. “But, like I said, there’s no championships in November.”
The first matchup between the teams since the Celtics ousted the Cavaliers from last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals in Game 5 in the same arena served to also figure out how much Cleveland has closed the gap between itself and the champs since then. After a mostly back-and-forth first half, the Celtics exploded before the intermission by closing the second quarter on a 19-7 run and taking a 65-48 lead. That run was powered by four consecutive three-pointers to close out the quarter: one from Horford, one from Derrick White, and the last two by Tatum, who left defender Georges Niang sliding on the floor before taking his time and nailing the right-wing three right before the buzzer sounded.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 37 pictures in total.
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