Boston Creamed Pie: Celtics-Cavs, Behind the Box Score

Boston Celtics (38-26) 103
Cleveland Cavaliers (44-17) 120
Box Score

I can’t speak on behalf of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but I badly didn’t want to see them lose Saturday night’s game against the Boston Celtics. I may have been a little … overly dramatic after the Cavs’ last loss to the Celtics, but I still feel that was a harbinger loss for the Cavs.

If you don’t remember that game, the Cavs scored 32 points in the first quarter to take a big lead, let the Celtics to crawl back into the game, boggled the game down the stretch, allowed Avery Bradley to hit a last-second game-winning three with Iman Shumpert showing only mild interest in defending him, and inspired me to summarize my feelings on the team using a line from Goodfellas. And you know things have gotten serious when I start rummaging through my bag of Goodfellas references.

Saturday night’s game in Cleveland started in similar fashion: with one team dominating the first quarter. This time it wasn’t the Cavaliers, but the Celtics who grabbed the game by the grapes and asserted its authority. The Celtics scored a stupefying 35 points in the first quarter, hinting that the Cavs’ Eastern Conference hegemony had an upcoming expiration date.

However, the Cavs ironed out the wrinkles and looked sharper after the ominous first quarter. Good thing, too, because while the Cavs have had some worrisome losses to the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets, they never seem to lose consecutive games to Eastern Conference rivals. For instance, after a Sunday beat down from the Washington Wizards, the Cavs avenged that loss Friday night with a convincing 25-point victory over those same Wizards. A consecutive loss to an Eastern Conference peer like the Celtics (at home, no less) would be an admission of vulnerability, a concession that the Eastern Conference is up for grabs.

Fortunately for the Cavs, that’s an issue that they don’t have to confront yet. Let’s go behind the box score and see how the victory sausage was made.

19 – As alluded to above, the Cavs kicked off festivities on Saturday by turning themselves into a piñata and letting everyone on the Celtics take a swing. The Cavs allowed 35 points in the first quarter, only the sixth quarter all season in which they’ve allowed 35 points or more and tied for the most they’ve allowed in the first quarter all season. The LeBron-less Cavs allowed 35 points on Sunday against the Wizards, making the bad first quarter a disturbing trend.

The 35 Celtic points were courtesy of 15-of-25 shooting (60.0 percent) and 5-of-7 shooting on three-pointers. Isaiah Thomas led the way with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, going where he wanted on the court with total impunity.

The Cavs needed to jettison the bad basketball, and quickly. The Celtic lead would get as great as 18 points before the Cavs turned things around and started climbing out of the grave they dug for themselves. It wasn’t a complicated recipe: it started with ball pressure and perimeter defense. They forced one-on-one confrontations in the post and started winning some of them after allowing 12 points in the paint in the first quarter (only six in the second). The Cavs weren’t even spectacular offensively in the quarter (42.9 percent shooting), but merely created free throws (13 in the quarter alone) and played respectable defense.

The Cavs only allowed 19 points in the second quarter after the abysmal 35 in the second. They scored 33 points of their own, admirably erasing an 18-point deficit in one quarter, thanks in part to a 4:23 scoreless Celtic stretch during which the Cavs went on a 12-0 run. The Cavs only forfeited 68 points in the last three quarters of the game, crashing the Celtics’ coming-out party by dumping out all the booze, eating all the cake, and replacing all the dance music with Bon Iver.

12, 16, 4 – On Friday night, I pointed out that Iman Shumpert hasn’t been giving the Cavs much, well, anything. Shumpert responded directly to my anonymous internet criticism by playing what was probably his best game of the season. After missing his first three field goal attempts, Shumpert ended his missing-streak spanning the last few games with a fast break layup. He seemed to regain his confidence after that, hitting an open three a few possessions later.

Shump finished with 12 points (4-of-8 shooting) and four assists, showing a nice balance between attacking for his own buckets and finding open teammates. Shump also demonstrated a much-needed physical edge for the Cavs guards, pitching in with 16 rebounds, a career high by five rebounds (it was only the fifth double-digit rebound game of his career). He played serviceable defense on Isaiah Thomas, and the Celtic offense isn’t great if Thomas isn’t knifing into the lane. If the Cavs are going to continue to feature small-ball lineups like they have over the last two games (according to the FOX Sports broadcast, the Cavs were +22 with small-ball lineups on Saturday), Iman Shumpert is going to have to play a vital role, as he did on Saturday against the Celtics.

34 – The Cavaliers attempted 34 free throws on Saturday, helping them stop the clock to hack away at the early Celtic lead, then lengthen the lead in the third and fourth quarters. The Cavs attempt only 22.1 free throws per game, toward the bottom of the league. But the Celtics send teams to the line more than any other in the NBA (27.0 per game), while the Cavs are in the bottom third of the league in opponent free throw attempts. So, credit the Cavs for using the Celtics’ physical play against them — they’ve now attempted 70 free throws in the last two games against the Celtics.

25 to 15 – The Cavs were buoyed by second chance points, a category in which they outscored the Men in Green by 10, 25 points to 15 points. Tristan Thompson helped here (as usual) with four offensive rebounds, a statistical anomaly because he only had one defensive rebound. In fact, the Cavs outscored the Celtics in all the miscellaneous categories: 25 to 15 in second chance points, 52 to 34 (!) in points in the paint, and 14 to 6 in fast break points.

28, 11, 8 – LeBron James’ season of casual excellence continues, overshadowed by the ongoing Steph-sanity. There was actually plenty to complain about in James’ game: he keeps shooting threes (1-of-4), missed nearly half his free throws (5-of-9), and played way too much iso-ball (especially in the third quarter). But, it’s still a freaking 28-point, 11-rebound, eight-assist game. Oh, he also passed Tim Duncan to become the fourteenth highest scorer in NBA history. nbd.

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20 & 4 – Kyrie Irving had a quiet 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting (and an encouraging 3-of-6 on three-pointers). He had four assists as well, a plus given that James (and even Dellavedova) handled the ball for the majority of the game. Dellavedova had a solid 10 points (4-of-6 shooting) and four assists off the bench.

8 – Eight Cavaliers scored in double-figures on Saturday. Nice. The Cavs had 27 assists. Very nice.

0 – Zero fourth quarter minutes for Kevin Love. If the Cavs emphasize small-ball and guard-heavy lineups going forward, where does that leave Love? I think his lack of fourth quarter PT on Saturday was due to his errant shooting (1-of-6), but credit Love for getting to the line nine times (making eight of those free throws).

It was an important win for the Cavs, to remind the Celtics that while they have good feelings about being the third best team in the East, the Cavs are still the kings of the conference. I would be leery of allowing the Celtics to win another game in Cleveland to give them an abundance of confidence they don’t need. Jared Sullinger’s comfort in the paint (17 points, most of them in the third quarter) and Isaiah Thomas’ ease penetrating the lane (29 points) are concerns, but the Celtics are a team the Cavs should dispatch handily if they match the Celtics’ intensity on the defensive perimeter. Overall, Saturday’s win was as satisfying as a chase-down block of Jae Crowder.

https://vine.co/v/iXvUXHmmA9X