Donovan Mitchell slammed down one of the dunks of the year in Tuesday’s Eastern Conference clash between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Cetlics.
But he didn’t get the win. The Celtics opened up a 35-15 second-quarter lead, then held off a Cavaliers rally for a 112-105 win. With the win, the second-place Celtics (36-15) moved to 4.5 games behind the Cavaliers (40-10) in the race for the No. 1 seed in the East.
Mitchell, who stands at 6-foot-3, tried to set the tone early with his emphatic dunk over Boston’s 7-2 center, Kristaps Porziņģis. With the game tied at 4-4 in the first quarter, Mitchell led the Cavaliers offense over halfcourt following a Jayson Tatum miss. He split Tatum and Jrue Holiday at the top of the 3-point line and made a beeline for the basket.
Porziņģis attempted to impede Mitchell from the help side, but it was to no avail. As Porziņģis leapt at the basket to block Mitchell’s shot, Mitchell cocked the ball back with his right hand and slammed it over Porziņģis and through the net.
But Boston wasn’t fazed. The Celtics responded by dominating the first quarter en route to their 20-point lead early in the second. Cleveland struggled to shoot in a 44-point first half that the Celtics led 54-44.
The Cavaliers were better after halftime and cut the Celtics’ lead to 109-104 in the game’s final minutes. But Boston limited Cleveland to a single free throw from there en route to the seven-point win.
Mitchell led the way in the Cleveland rally with 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Darius Garland overcame a five-point first half to finish with 25.
Strong defense and superior 3-point shooting from the Celtics proved too much for Cleveland to overcome. The Celtics limited the Cavaliers to 39.6% shooting from the field and a 28.2% clip (11 of 39) from long distance. Boston countered with a 17-of-48 (35.4%) effort from beyond the arc as four starters scored in double figures.
Jayson Tatum led the Boston effort with 22 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals. Derrick White tallied 20 points and five assists, while Porziņģis posted 19 points and seven rebounds. Jaylen Brown finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Source link