Cavs shoot poorly, Crowder nonfactor in return to Boston
BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas’ first game against the Boston Celtics since they traded him has to wait until February.
But Jae Crowder’s return to TD Garden proceeded as planned Wednesday night and it didn’t go so well for him or virtually anyone else on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Celtics won 102-88 in the first
of a five-game trip for the Cavs.
LeBron James didn’t play the fourth quarter of the blowout and finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in 32 minutes. Kyle Korver got hot in the second quarter with four three-pointers and ended with 15 points.
Otherwise the Cavs shot 31 of 89 as a team and looked every bit like they had played the night before while the Celtics rested for two days. Their streak of consecutive games with at least 10 threes stopped at 26, leaving them in a tie with the Celtics for the thirdlongest streak in NBA history. Cleveland was 8 of 32 from three-point range.
Kyrie Irving scored 11 points with nine rebounds and six assists against his former team.
The Celtics now hold a 4½-game lead over the Cavs in the Eastern Conference.
Terry Rozier led the Celtics with 20 points off the bench Wednesday. Rozier paid his respects to Thomas afterward, and Thomas told the third-year Celtics guard he was proud of him.
“When I first came in the league, that’s a guy who I watched a lot. The little things he did on and off the court. Like a big brother to me,” Rozier said. “Just to hear those words from him, I’m happy that he’s on his way back so I can guard him in February.”
Irving was traded to the Celtics during the offseason for Thomas, Crowder, Ante Zizic, and two draft picks. This was to be the game where Thomas got revenge — but rehab on his hip injuries kept him out of games through last week, which made it virtually impossible for him to play against the Celtics.
Thomas isn’t yet able to play on consecutive nights. He scored 17 in his debut Tuesday against Portland.
Celtics fans gave Thomas a standing ovation between the first and second quarters when he appeared on the arena video screen.
Crowder’s return was one to forget. He scored six points — but none until there was 7:44 left in the game and the Cavs were down 20. He shot 2 of 12 and contributed seven rebounds. In Crowder’s first game with Thomas this season, he scored 17 points with four threes.
Crowder plummeted back to earth without Thomas. But he wasn’t the only one. Kevin Love scored just two points on 1-of11 shooting. Dwyane Wade was 2-of-10 shooting for five points. Jeff Green scored 13 off the bench but shot 3 of 11.
“I don’t know who we are or who we can be until we get I.T. back consistently,” James said. “Until we get a full dosage of I.T. … we’re trying to figure things out. But we’ll be fine.”