Celtics Wrap: Boston Earns Fifth Straight Win, Beats Cavs 123-103

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Jan 23, 2019

BOSTON — Make it five in a row for the Celtics.

Boston received 26 points from Terry Rozier, who shot a perfect 100 percent from the field in the first half, en route to a 123-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Rozier led all shooters in points, while Jaylen Brown (23), Gordon Hayward (18), Jayson Tatum (15), Marcus Morris (11) and Brad Wanamaker (11) also reached double digits. Cedi Osman paced the Cavs with 25 points, with Ante Zizic just behind him at 19.

The game was close for much of the first half, but the C’s broke it wide open in the third before running away with the victory.

With the win, the Celtics climbed, to 30-18, while the Cavs slipped to 9-40.

Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris
C: Aron Baynes

NOTHING BUT TERRY
Cleveland began the quarter on a 4-0 run before Rozier went on an absolute tear, draining the Celtics’ first eight points.

He began it with a 3-point shot to get the C’s on the board with 9:50 left in the opening quarter. He made a layup, drew an and-one and knocked it down to put Boston up 6-4.

It remained close in the opening 12 minutes thanks in large part to Rozier nailing 16 of Boston’s 27 points, but it was Cleveland that took a slim 30-27 lead into the second quarter.

Rozier led all shooters with 16 points, including 11 in his first six minutes on the floor. Jordan Clarkson led the Cavs with eight.

ROZIER CAN’T BE STOPPED
The game remained close like it did in the first, but Boston went on a 12-2 run thanks in part to Smart setting up a fast break that resulted in a Wanamaker three to make it 41-36.

Cleveland finally snapped the run, but Boston started a new 10-0 one over a span of three-plus minutes. Smart hit a three of his own and Morris continued to build the home team’s edge with a jumper that caused the Cavs to call a timeout with 5:54 remaining in the half. Zizic broke Cleveland’s scoreless run with a dunk.

Boston was up 11 with two minutes left in the half and extended its lead to 14 after some beautifully executed ball movement resulted in a Rozier three.

Boston closed out the second quarter with another Rozier shot from distance to give the C’s a 65-50 lead heading into the break.

Rozier continued to lead all scorers with 22 points and remained perfect on the floor, shooting 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Zizic led the Cavs with 14 points.

STRONG OFFENSE, DEFENSE CONTINUES
The C’s couldn’t find the rim in the first 2:30 of the third until Morris drained one from deep. He added two more on the next play to extend Boston’s lead to 70-52.

Cleveland tried to chip away at the lead, but the Celtics were just too much, thanks in part to this impressive steal and dunk sequence from Tatum.

Fans at TD Garden also saw their first Robert Williams block of the night in the third.

Cleveland chipped its deficit down to 12 to close out the third quarter, 92-80.

C’s CLOSE IT OUT
The Celtics would not let the Cavaliers get close. Brown hit a fadeaway jumper to put Boston up 99-80, in turn forcing Cleveland to call a timeout just 1:56 into the final 12 minutes.

Boston upped its lead to 21 with less than five minutes left in the game while Rozier continued to up his point total. Hayward made it 118-99 with 2:43 to go before Cleveland called another timeout.

Cleveland cracked the triple-digit mark, but it was much too late by that point, as Boston took home the 123-103 win.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Scary Terry being Scary Terry.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will continue their homestand Saturday when they welcome the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors to TD Garden. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.

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