After winning 17 of the first 20 games of the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were certainly happy to host the defending champion Boston Celtics on Sunday night.
Boston came to town riding a seven-game winning streak; They will be without two top players in Jaylen Brown (illness) and Derrick White (foot). And two nights before that, they had just experienced a 138-129 blowout against the Bulls in Chicago.
Cleveland had a golden opportunity to get revenge against the Celtics, and they didn’t let it pass.
The Cavaliers suffered their first loss to Boston since Nov. 12, winning 115-111 after facing a 12-point deficit with 8:09 left in the fourth quarter.
And Cleveland fans should savor every inch of this victory. No matter what the scoreboard says on Sunday, the Cavaliers simply aren’t at the Celtics’ level.
When the teams met two weeks ago, it was Cleveland that was short-handed, as Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert and Dean Wade were all sidelined in a 120-117 loss that ended the Cavaliers’ opening winning streak at 15. It was. .
Cleveland was also held in check by Darius Garland, who was 3-for-21 from the field in the Nov. 19 matchup.
I haven’t seen Boston and the Cavaliers go at full strength yet, but what I can tell you is that Brown and White move the needle much more than Okoro, LeVert, and Wade. The Celtics faced far more adversity when they lost Sunday than they had to endure when Cleveland faltered in mid-November.
It also took a superhuman performance from Donovan Mitchell for the Cavaliers to tie the season series against Boston at 1-1. Mitchell scored 20 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter. It literally had to be perfect to ensure Cleveland won.
Impressive? yes. But such a performance only won the Cavaliers the battle, not the war.
While important, Sunday’s game probably won’t be on anyone’s minds even if Cleveland plays the Celtics at some point in the playoffs, especially if that matchup happens in the Eastern Conference finals. . At this point, it will be 7 consecutive games. And if both teams are fully healthy, Boston won’t win four games before the Cavaliers.
Cleveland is a regular season team until proven otherwise. The Cavaliers have made the playoffs twice in the past six seasons, but were eliminated in the first round of the postseason in 2023 and lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals this spring.
In those same six seasons, Boston made it to the Finals twice, the Eastern Conference Finals two more times, and the semifinals once. In 2021, they lost in the first round.
This Celtics team is special. Boston practices 19.1 threes per night, has five scorers averaging at least 16.0 points per game, and hasn’t dropped three straight games since the 2023 playoffs. Don’t forget about one loss.
So let’s celebrate now, Cleveland. After six months there will be no reason.
