A strong first quarter by Jrue Holiday helped Boston jump out to a lead that it would not relinquish | David Richard-USA TODAY Sports Boston leverages strong offensive second and third quarters to cement the victory and 2-1 series advantage In what was a short-lived departure from the blowouts of the first two games, Boston and Cleveland engaged in a back-and-forth affair over much of the opening half, led by their respective star power, until the Celtics jumped ahead for good. In an exciting first half that saw the teams both shoot well from distance, Donovan Mitchell (with six threes) and Evan Mobley valiantly attempted to match the white-hot production of Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Jaylen Brown. Boston held the lead for the majority of the minutes in the second period before pushing their lead out past ten late in the half and extending it out past 20 in the third quarter before fending off several Cavaliers’ second-half runs. Cleveland’s Mitchell (33 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals) had just one suitable battery mate tonight in Mobley (17 points and 8 rebounds) in the disappointing loss. The Cavaliers’ bench put up just three points in the first half, and the team could not find a third scorer soon enough to offset and catch Boston. Without Kristaps Porzingis’s shooting and length again, Boston’s Tatum (33 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists) carried the visiting Celtics to their impressive game 3 victory. Holiday (18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists) and Jaylen Brown (28 points and 9 rebounds) more than made up for the center’s absence. In a nervy first quarter with 10+ lead changes, and periods of choppy play, it was the teams’ stars (Tatum and Mitchell) that carried the shotmaking throughout the frame. Tatum’s 10th point put Cleveland down four, and Holiday supplied the secondary offense Boston needed to hold onto a small advantage. Tatum’s steal and coast-to-coast bucket helped the Celtics exit the quarter up two. Holiday figured prominently in Boston’s scoring to start the second period, as Mitchell sat. Upon the Cleveland guard’s return, he sliced his team’s deficit in half with a pair of stunning threes. Mitchell’s running mate, Garland converted a layup to bring the Cavaliers within seven. A pair of difficult lay-ups by Brown pushed the lead back out to nine. Tatum’s free throws made it 57-48 at the half. Coming back from the half, Derrick White woke up from a gamelong slumber to net his first two threes, and it wasn’t until Mitchell’s field goal several minutes later that Cleveland ended a 14-0 run. Mobley suffered an ankle injury during that run and did not return for the rest of the period. The Cavaliers mounted their own 9-0 response in the middle part of the stanza. Mitchell briefly brought Cleveland within a dozen, but Brown’s three made it a 15-point game at the end of three. Observations - The earnestness in Wemby’s video posted today was already apparent. However, on a couple (or several dozen) re-watches, it’s just heartwarming to watch him and the gratitude that explodes out in knowing that he is ours.
- These playoffs feel subjectively like the most compelling since before the Bubble.
- Luke Kornet looks like a very mature Gordon Hayward.
- In crunchtime, it still feels like Tatum doesn’t have enough reliable moves in his bag.
- Isaac Okoro committed the dreaded foot on the sideline violation before a dribble-drive. I don’t have a clue as to how to decrease these occurrences.
- It’s refreshing to watch White doing the things he does on the defensive end despite the subpar offensive output. He had a magician-like swipe in the first period, and a chasedown block of a lay-up attempt later in the half.
- It’s really interesting that the Dallas/OKC game finished several hours before the start of this Cleveland/Boston game - despite being on the same network (or family of networks).
- From the tip, the teams went through several fruitless possessions. Tatum and Mitchell hit matching pairs of threes, and Mobley’s assertiveness in the paint helped nudge Cleveland ahead. The Cavaliers had trouble with unforced errors - running up their turnover total to four. Brown’s turnaround jumper put them up three even after Boston went to its bench earlier than expected. Cleveland reserve Dean Wade hit a three in his first action since March. After a highly competitive 12 minutes, Tatum’s dozen helped Boston go up 30-28.
- At the start of the second, the burly Holiday backed Mobley down and threw a high-arcing layup over him. Holiday’s next bucket pushed the Celtics lead to seven, but Mitchell’s successive stepback threes halted the bleeding momentarily for Cleveland. Boston’s shooting touch continued to tighten the pressure around the Cavaliers to counter consistently. Buckets by Garland and Mitchell closed the gap to five. The Celtics earned their first double-digit lead behind Brown’s conversions and left the half up nine.
- White’s first field goal was part of an opening salvo that knocked Cleveland down in the third. His second one put Boston up 20 and the run went to 14-0 before the Cavaliers responded with a 9-0 run of their own. Tatum spoonfed Kornet for a soaring alley-oop. Unfortunately, Cleveland scored at-will against Kornet at the other end. Caris Levert aided the Cavaliers’ cause with a flurry of points, but the Celtics went into the fourth up 84-69.
- At the start of the fourth, Mobley returned to help the Cavaliers get to within nine on a dunk and a rebound/putback sequence. Payton Pritchard’s straightaway three stopped a long Boston cold spell. A driving Holiday found White at the dunker’s spot for a lay-up to put the Celtics back up 14. Brown’s and Tatum’s shotclock-beating jumpers iced the game away.
Source: https://www.poundingtherock.com/2024/5/ ... game-3-win