CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – With a chance to shock the world and take the lead in the conference semifinals against Boston, Game 3 looked an awful lot like Game 1 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, but his supporting cast contributed too little too late as the Boston Celtics took a 2-1 series lead with a 106-93 win Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Here’s our top Wine & Gold Nuggets from Game 3.
One-man army – The look on Mitchell's face as he sat quietly in front of his locker after Game 3 spoke volumes. Mitchell isn’t going to be able to beat Boston by himself, no matter how hard he tries. Someone should tell the rest of the Cavs. “I think there were some times where we tried to hit the home run. I think myself included,” Mitchell said. “The first one I think of is the step back three that I air banked. Just because I'm feeling good, I don't need to take that shot. But, at the end of the day, I'm not mad at the aggression. I'd rather it be an aggressive mistake than a passive one. So now it's get ready and figure it out for Monday.” For the second time in three games this series, Mitchell came out firing. He had 11 after one, 23 by halftime, 30 through three before running out of gas in the fourth. “I kind of just been picking my spots and there were spots where I felt like I was able to hit shots and at the end of the day, it's a balance,” Mitchell said. “It's not going to be perfect. But they got going and they started scoring. So I was like, okay, trying to be a little more aggressive. Then I started feeling a little hot in the second quarter, so [I’m] not going to stop. I think that was the biggest thing. And then the third, trying to do it. So just trying to pick my spots and it's no real formula. It's just kind of what the game calls for at the time, and I think that's kind of just been my approach.”
Help wanted – Other than Evan Mobley, who had 11 points through three quarters and finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, no one other than Mitchell had hit double figures in scoring entering the fourth quarter. “We just gotta find different advantages and take those advantages, instead of trying to do the same thing over and over,” Mobley said. Mitchell and Mobley combined to finish 19 of 33 from the field. The rest of the Cavs: 17 of 51. Darius Garland, thought to be a core piece of a potential championship caliber team, continues to underwhelm with his inconsistent play. “You got to be aggressive,” Bickerstaff said. “We know how talented Darius is, we know how much he means to us and when he's that spark for us, it's a boost to the guys, not just the basketball sense, but in the spirit of the group as well. So we'll just keep pushing him. I know how bad he wants it and he'll do the right thing for us and continue to be aggressive, and he'll have a big one on Monday.” Garland made one of six three-point tries. Garland, who tied Isaac Okoro for the worst plus-minus with a -17 Saturday night, finished with 15 points and six assists. “I'm going to try to find my way, let the game come to me,” Garland said. “Just keep being aggressive, keep attacking, and try to make the right plays for everybody.”
Triple threat – Boston's trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday gave the Cavs fits, again. Tatum also scored 33 but also had 13 rebounds, six assists a steal and blocked shot. Brown had 28 points, 11 more than the Cavs second-highest scorer, to go with nine rebounds. “I thought both of them hit some really difficult shots,” Bickerstaff said. “They went into iso and took mid-range turnaround, contested twos that our guys challenged them on. So they make those because they're elite offensive players, but I thought they were tough ones and we just got to continue to make them tough.” Holiday added 18 more points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and a block. The trio combined to shoot 31 of 52 from the field.
Hot shots – The Celtics shot a blistering 51.2% despite hitting just 13 of 34 from 3. “I wouldn't call it demoralizing just because we can't afford for it to be able to demoralizing,” Mitchell said. “We don't have time for that. I think at the end of the day we could do a better job defensively.”
One and done – The Cavs, who led for just 3:16 in Game 3, hung in there at least for the first quarter, which saw 11 lead changes between the teams. But Boston took control of the game in the second and third quarters, outscoring Cleveland 54-41, and they never let up. “It is disappointing because we've shown the capability to come out and start the [third] quarter off strong,” Mitchell said. “And at the end of the day, we didn't do that tonight and we paid for it.” Boston led by as many as 23 thanks to a 14-0 run to start the second half and the closest the Cavs got the rest of the way was nine on three occasions. “We got to come out of halftime better,” Caris LeVert, who had 15 points off the bench said. “That was a point of emphasis at halftime for sure, and we just didn't meet the bell on that. We made a push late, but we were already down, so it was too big to come back.”
Wade’s return – Forward Dean Wade returned from a sprained knee that sidelined him for the better party of two months Saturday night. “It was great to have him back, man,” Mitchell said. “He was in better shape than I thought, I mean, to be honest…He's put the time and put the work in, but being able to play that five out with him at the five and for him to really step in, and like I said, not really be with us and then to kind of figure it out on the fly, I think that was huge. And we'll get some more work in obviously tomorrow and get ready for Monday, but it was great to have him out there.” Wade, who missed the final 19 regular season games and nine playoff games, checked in with 4:18 to play in the first quarter and promptly hit a three from the right wing that gave the Cavs an 18-17 lead. Wade finished with five points, three rebounds, three assists and a block in 16:48.
Starting 5 – Bickerstaff went with Evan Mobley, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland Saturday night.
Series schedule – Game 4 in Cleveland Monday, 7 p.m. on TNT; Game 5 in Boston Wednesday, 7 p.m. on TNT; *Game 6 in Cleveland Friday, TBD on ESPN; *Game 7 in Boston Sunday, May 19, TBD on TBD (* If Necessary)
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