Four Studs, One Dud From Celtics’ First-Place Battle Vs. Cavaliers

The Boston Celtics matched up again with the Cleveland Cavaliers after an entertaining battle earlier this season during the NBA Cup.

Boston handed Cleveland its first loss back on Nov. 19 with a statement win at TD Garden. This time, the Celtics made the trip to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to issue another reminder of which team is the reigning NBA champion. The teams battled through another tough battle of top Eastern Conference squads before the Cavaliers got the job done Sunday night.

Here are four studs and a dud from the Celtics’ 115-111 loss against the Cavaliers.

STUDS
Kristaps Porzingis
Boston continues to reap the benefits of their big man’s return this month from his offseason surgery. Porzingis attacked offensively against Cleveland’s Georges Niang to spark a first-half turnaround for the Celtics. The star center also drilled a go-ahead triple to put the Celtics in front in the third quarter and pulled in a crucial offensive rebound that set up a Jrue Holiday layup in the final minutes.

Porzingis ended the night with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Jayson Tatum
Boston’s star did not have his normal supporting cast Sunday night with the absence of Derrick White and Jaylen Brown. Tatum still rose to the occasion with 33 points — 17 of those points came in the third quarter alone.

Tatum attacked isolations throughout the night and picked apart the opposition. The Celtics star played like a scorer on a rather efficient night from the field against a top Eastern Conference contender.

Paint Defense
Cleveland skyrocketed with the undefeated start through legitimate success of going to work in the paint. The Celtics felt the return of Porzingis in that degree, holding the Cavaliers to a season-low 18 points in the paint in the first half.

Donovan Mitchell
The Cleveland guard cooked against Boston once again. Only Michael Jordan has a higher career average against the Celtics than Mitchell, per NBC Sports Boston.

Mitchell dropped 35 points, including a clutch 3-pointer late in the game, and shot over 50% from the field to give the Celtics fits defensively.

DUDS
Boston’s opening energy
Cleveland showed up early and often to put the Celtics on their heels in the first quarter. The Cavaliers struck quick to start the game on an 8-0 run and won the opening 12 minutes, 28-24, before the Celtics found their rhythm in the second half in Cleveland.

Luckily for Boston, the Celtics turned a corner to take control, which included a plus-14 third quarter.