Jayson Tatum on Thursday scored 27 points and Jaylen Brown had 22 as the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-107 to improve to 12-0 at home.
Facing the Cavaliers for the second consecutive game at TD Garden after a victory on Tuesday, Boston won for the sixth time in seven games.
Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points, Jrue Holiday had 15 and Derrick White 14 for the Celtics, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Tatum added 11 rebounds and all five starters scored in double figures.
Photo: AFP
“I think we were locked in, attention to detail,” Holiday said. “This game we kind of controlled the game from beginning to end, withstood their punches and were able to make plays down the stretch.”
Donovan Mitchell paced Cleveland with 31 points, Caris LeVert finished with 26 and Darius Garland had 19. The Cavaliers have lost three straight.
After having their double-digit lead sliced to three entering the final quarter, the Celtics took control again. Tatum sparked a quick spurt with a fadeaway and a step-back three-pointer, pushing Boston’s lead to 101-91 with 8 minutes, 30 seconds to go.
Cleveland had one more run left, slicing it to 107-102 on LeVert’s driving basket with 3:01 to play, but Holiday hit a layup and Tatum followed Cleveland’s turnover with a dunk with 1:53 remaining.
“I thought we could have played a lot better to be honest,” Brown said. “I thought we played a little lethargically and allowed them to keep the game kind of close. That’s kind of dangerous against certain teams — they’re in striking distance and can get hot at any moment. We’ve got to do a better job of putting teams away.”
Trailing by double digits most of the third quarter and looking somewhat sluggish, the Cavaliers found a late spark, namely Garland, late in the period when he burst to the basket before hitting a left-handed scoop. He followed that by nailing a three-pointer from the top with 0.3 seconds on the clock to close to 90-87.
Unlike Tuesday’s victory when the Celtics fell behind by 15 in the opening quarter, they combined some steady ball movement that led to numerous open looks with good outside shooting, taking advantage of a cold start by the Cavaliers to jump ahead by 14 on Brown’s right-corner three-pointer midway into the second quarter.
“I think it’s growth to constantly be challenged throughout the season,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I’ve seen over the last two games our guys kind of staying at a certain level, really work to execute and play together.”
Boston shot 56.1 percent in the opening half (including eight of 17 on three-point attempts) and led 65-54 at the break.
Mitchell had 21 first-half points, but the Cavaliers missed 16 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. Every Cleveland player besides Mitchell shot under 50 percent from the floor in the opening half.
“I don’t think that we came out as aggressive and assertive as we needed to,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I thought we did settle [for shots] a little early, but we did pick it up.”
Elsewhere, the Kings silenced the Thunder 128-123, the Jazz trumped the Trail Blazers 122-114, the Timberwolves trounced the Mavericks 119-101, the Clippers walloped the Warriors 121-113, the Nuggets routed the Nets 124-101 and the Bulls bullied the Heat 124-116.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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