Cavaliers searching for formula to slow Celtics
BOSTON – The Cleveland Cavaliers have a defense built on defending the rim, but they can be susceptible against a 3-point barrage. The Boston Celtics’ offense can do both, and the Cavs now have their homework for the rest of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The Cavs were surgically dissected by the Celtics’ offense in Tuesday night’s Game 1, which turned into a 120-95 loss for Cleveland and a showcase of why Boston is one of the biggest favorites of any second-round playoff series in recent memory.
Jaylen Brown had his way on the offensive end, finishing with 32 points. Derrick White torched the Cavs with seven 3-pointers. Jayson Tatum had a somewhat average game, but he didn’t need to do anything more and remains capable of taking over at any moment.
Then there’s Jrue Holiday hitting a couple of key buckets, and there’s Payton Pritchard hitting buzzer-beating 3-pointers from just inside the midcourt logo, on and on and on (and on and on and on).
No team in the league hits more 3-pointers on average than the Celtics, who can also get to the rim with ease. And in Game 1 the Cavs were hit with a flurry of 3s and never recovered, as the Celtics poured in 18 shots from deep.
“It’s a different game, especially for us defensively and what we’re trying to do defending,” said Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff, referencing the different styles between the Orlando Magic, the vanquished first-round opponent, and the Celtics. “It’ll take us a little bit of time to just kind of adjust.
“I think tonight was that night, and my expectation is we’ll watch (the film), we’ll study it, we’ll break it down some more, get some reps at it, go at it again Thursday.”
The Cavs had played the Celtics three times this season, going 1-2 during their regular-season matchups. But the playoffs are a different animal, at times with different styles of play. Game 1 can sometimes act as a feeling out process for the rest of a seven-game series. It also often forces teams to shift what they’re doing as opponents make adjustments and counter-adjustments.
The Cavs know if they can’t make the Celtics alter their offensive flow, this series could be a short one. Few teams have been able to really slow down the Boston attack.
One main goal that is clear to the Cavs, even before reviewing the film, is they need to beat the Celtics to where they want to go instead of allowing the ball to work its way through their sets.
“We need to do a better job of limiting the amount of 3-pointers they took, and that is being in our spots as early as we can be and doing a better job than we did tonight of reading the basketball,” Bickerstaff said, also noting that while the Cavs can live with 3s off the dribble, they have to put a stop to the catch-andshoot 3s. “As the ball moves, we have to move.”
Cleveland has its own issues on offense – Darius Garland struggled again, and Donovan Mitchell, who scored a game-high 33 points, needed more help – but coming up with a blueprint to stifle the Celtics’ offense is priority No. 1.
That has to be the lesson from Game 1, that somewhere in the film of Tuesday night’s 25-point loss is the key to unraveling the Boston barrage.