3 Celtics takeaways from brutal Game 2 loss to Cavaliers

10/05/2024 05:19

The Boston Celtics enjoyed double-digit leads in each of their last four playoff games. But, on Thursday night, they were the ones who had to attempt to overcome a massive lead, yet to no avail, as the Cleveland Cavaliers took Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, 118-94.

Although the C’s led by as many as nine points in the first half, the Cavs never went away and were rewarded for it. After the game was tied 54-54 at halftime, Cleveland outscored Boston 64-40 in the next 24 minutes. The Celtics took a few cracks at the lead, but they could never really make a dent, causing them to pull the starters with 4:58 remaining in the contest.

Boston will now travel to Cleveland with the series tied 1-1. Before Game 3 tips off in Ohio on Saturday night, let’s examine three takeaways from the Celtics’ embarrassing Game 2 defeat.

The Celtics got destroyed in the 3-point battle

A quick glance at the shooting percentages reveals a good amount about this game. The Celtics shot a brutal 22.9% from deep and converted on just eight of their 35 attempts. Conversely, Cleveland shot 46.4% from 3-point land and went an efficient 47-for-86 from the field.

If this sounds familiar, this shooting disparity is somewhat similar to Game 2 of the first round between the Celtics and Heat. During that 111-101 loss, Boston shot 37.5% from beyond the arc while the Heat hit a playoff franchise record 23 triples. That difference allowed the Heat to steal a game before falling in five games.

Cleveland wasn’t as inexplicably hot as Miami in Game 2, which should trouble the C’s a bit. The Cavs were hitting difficult shots but also dominating the paint with ease. This 24-point defeat can’t be called as much of a fluke, so Boston will have to tighten up its defense in more areas than just the perimeter.

“You treat it the same way you would a win,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stated when asked how his squad should respond to the beatdown. “Come in tomorrow, watch the film, and get better for Game 3.”

Joe Mazzulla's response when asked how the Celtics should respond after a tough Game 2 loss to the Cavs:

"You treat it the same way you would a win. Come in tomorrow, you watch the film, and you get better for Game 3."

(via @danield1214) pic.twitter.com/axaXnT4JEk

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 10, 2024

Donovan Mitchell outplayed Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown

Another point of concern for the Celtics is that the best player on the floor wasn’t wearing green. Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was lighting it up all night, as he finished with 29 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. He also had a game-high plus-minus rating of plus-38.

No matter what the C’s threw at Mitchell, he had an answer. Even though he got off to a slow start, he began to cash in tough triples and break down Boston’s traps with nifty assists.

Boston’s stars weren’t necessarily bad, they just didn’t do enough to counter Mitchell and company. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 44 points, yet they went an abysmal 2-for-11 on their 3-point attempts. Mitchell had five triples all on his own.

“He made some tough shots tonight,” Brown said of Mitchell’s stellar showing. “He made some tough, contest threes. He’s a basketball player. We got to have a little bit more alertness to him … He got the best of us.”

In order to take the series advantage back, Boston’s dynamic duo will have to offer more, or slow down Mitchell at the very least.

“Obviously, this was an unacceptable performance and we need to get ready to respond,” Brown stated.

The Celtics were too weak on the glass

For the majority of their 2024 postseason run, the Celtics have owned the glass. During their Game 1 win, they had 42 rebounds to Cleveland’s 31. In fact, center Luke Kornet had six offensive boards while the Cavs only had seven in total.

Game 2 was a different story. Cleveland outrebounded Boston 44-31 and held the C’s to just six offensive rebounds on the evening. Given how many long misses Boston had, the Green Team should’ve been able to feast on the offensive boards more than ever.

That wasn’t the case though, as the Cavs were defensively rebounding well. Even 33-year-old Tristan Thompson was able to snatch three boards in 10 minutes.

“We got to play defense and we got to rebound—get them off the glass,” Brown said. “And those are two things we didn’t do tonight. We didn’t rebound very well and we also didn’t defend at a high enough level.

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