Cavaliers outplayed by Boston and officials in 117-115 loss
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - Sunday the Cleveland Cavaliers (12-9, 8-4 home) welcomed the Boston Celtics (11-9, 5-5 road) to town for the first time this season. The Cavs and Celtics met on October 29th in Boston, and it didn’t go too well for the Cavs as Boston pummeled them 125-105.
The Cavs were without Darius Garland in the first meeting in Boston but on Sunday night there was no exception to the Celtics rules as Boston received the calls from the NBA office all night in the 117-115 win over the flailing Cavs.
Things did not look good early on for the Cavs as the Celtics jumped out to a 7-0 and then 10-2 lead just 1:44 into the game courtesy of eight early points by Payton Pritchard. After the Cavs failed at the other end Jordan Walsh hit a three and with 9:33 left in the first quarter the Boston lead was 13-2. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson took an immediate timeout to wake up his team. The lead eventually grew to 17-5 before Donovan Mitchell hit a three to cut the Celtics lead to 17-8. Then with 6:16 left De’Andre Hunter drained a three from the corner to cut the lead to 17-11. The Celtics called a timeout in an attempt to thwart the Cleveland momentum. With 1:57 left the Cavs cut the Celtics lead to 25-22 when Craig Porter, Jr. drove the lane. When the quarter ended the Cavs trailed 28-26. Pritchard led all scorers with 10 first quarter points. Hunter paced the Cavs with 8 points in the first 12 minutes. The Celtics outshot the Cavs from the field 47% (10 of 21) to 41% (9 of 22). Boston was also better from long range 40% (4 of 10) to 29% (4 of 14). Not surprisingly the Cavs were once again out rebounded 15-9. The Cavs did take advantage of six turnovers from the Celtics and turned them into nine points.
The Cavs took a 31-30 lead when Jaylon Tyson hit a three with 11:08 left on the second quarter clock. With the game tied 39-39 and 6:42 on the clock Darius Garland drained a three from the top of the arc to put the Cavs up by three. Celtics head man Joe Mazzulla took a timeout. With 4:15 left the Celtics took a 49-46 lead when Pritchard hit his fourth three pointer of the first half. The Cavs then tied the game 49-49 with 3:53 left when Garland hit another three. The Cavs regained the lead when Evan Mobley scored in the paint courtesy of a nice pass from Mitchell with 3:27 left. With 1:05 left, the Celtics took the lead after Tyson fouled Jaylen Brown, he hit both free throws and the Celtics led 53-51. The Cavs absolutely collapsed defensively in the last minute of the half and trailed 58-51 heading to the locker room break. As the Celtics outscored the Cavs 9-0 in the final 1:05. Pritchard led all scorers with 18 points at the break. Mobley led the Cavs with 10 points. The Celtics out shot the Cavs from the field and from three-point range. The Cavs did shoot 6 of 7 from the free throw line which was a nice change from their recent free throw shooting woes, Mobley was 2 for 2 from the line. The Cavs were outrebounded 28-20 in the opening half which is a trend that is not positive.
With 9:59 left the Cavs crawled back to with three points at 65-62 when Tyson hit a three. Mobley had the Cavs first eight points of the third quarter. The Celtics scored the next five points to build their lead back up to eight points and then to 10 points at 72-62 with 8:07 left in the third quarter. The early minutes of the third quarter were a microcosm of the season as the Cavs scored and then played virtually no defense at the other end and the Celtics countered matching the Cavs every time. With 5:22 left the Cavs were looking very similar to the team that plays at Huntington Bank Field Sunday afternoon as they trailed the Celtics 83-65 and were definitely not resembling a championship team or even a team that can get out of the first round of the playoffs. As the third quarter ended the Cavs trimmed the Celtics lead to 90-79. Pritchard led all scorers with 27 points through three and Mobley led the Cavs with 25. The Cavs were still being pitifully out rebounded 40-30.
With 10:53 left the Cavs temporarily cut the Celtics lead to 90-83 when Tyrese Proctor scored on a finger roll in the paint. Then with 9:46 left Proctor trimmed the Boston lead to 92-88 and Mazzulla called an immediate timeout. With 6:37 left and the Celtics lead back at 97-90 Garland was fouled by Hugo Gonzalez and managed to make only 1 of 2 free throws. Brown then accosted Garland at the other end flailing his arm, hitting Garland in the face and Garland was called for the foul. Brown did miss both and the Celtics lead remained at six. Garland then scored at the other end to cut the Cleveland deficit to 97-93. It was then rinse and repeat as Brown belted Mitchell and Mitchell was called for a foul, then he belted Hunter and Hunter was called for a foul and Browns took two shots making both and giving the Celtics a 99-91 lead with 5:37 left. With 4:34 left the defenseless Cavs trailed 104-93 when Pritchard scored untouched in the paint. Though the Cavaliers played porous defense once again the Celtics were aided by the officiating crew led by longtime terrible official Courtney Kirkland who followed the league offices script to the tee aiding Boston at every chance he had. Jaylen Brown without a doubt could win the Danny Ainge Celtics crybaby award as he pushed off and used his elbows the entire game and then cried like Danny Ainge to the official when he was called for a foul with 1:31 left on the clock. Though the Cavs cut the Celtics lead to six with 1:12 left and then to three points with :45.6 left the Cavs’ porous defense gave them no chance as the Celtics scored on the other end. Mitchell then hit a three to cut the Boston lead to 114-112 with :20 left. Boston then took a timeout with :15.6 remaining. The Cavs then fouled Pritchard with :5.9 left he made them both and the Cavs’ comeback was thwarted as the Celtics won 117-115.
Pritchard the Cavs killer who had not been having a great season before tonight led everyone in scoring with 42 points including six threes. Mobley led the Cavs in the losing effort with 27 points and 14 rebounds.
The Celtics outshot the Cavs from the field 49% (40 of 81) to 46% (43 of 94). The Cavs did outshoot the Celtics from behind the three-point arc 39% (20 of 52) to 35% (14 of 40). Cleveland was once again terrible at the free throw line shot 69% (9 of 13) while Boston of course shot 16 more free throws than the Cavs in the Courtney Kirkland special shooting 79% (23 of 29). Aside from the bias officiating by Kirkland and his crew of Karl Lane and Brandon Schwab, the Cavs played little defense and once again were outrebounded 46-43. The games that are statically even against Boston usually end up being a Celtics victory because they always get the advantage from the officials and the game is decided at the free throw line and tonight was no exception. A game like this goes unnoticed because there was no big call at the end of the game, it was calls throughout the game that favored the Celtics that determined the game.
The Cavs will not get a break as they travel to Indianapolis to play the Indiana Pacers on Monday night at 7 pm at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Cavs played the Pacers on November 21st in Cleveland and defeated them 120-109.
POSTED 11/30/2025 20:59
Lake County Sentinel
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Cavs forward Evan Mobley scores two of his 26 points in the Cavaliers 117-115 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday night at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tommy Shirer
