Recap: Celtics 102, Cavs 88 (or, old men get tired)

Fresh off a fairly impressive win over the Portland Trailblazers that ended a three-game losing streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers headed to Boston to take on the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics for their second game in two nights. These two teams have engaged in a rather heated (and one-sided) rivalry over the past few seasons, and the trade of Kyrie Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2017 first round pick has only added fuel to that fire. Jackie MacMullan’s excellent piece detailing Irving’s perspective on his split from the Cavaliers lit up the airwaves all day Wednesday in anticipation of this matchup between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

1st Quarter

Despite their rivalry, the Cavaliers and Celtics are polar opposites in their approaches to success. The Cavaliers try to outscore every opponent and play little defense, while the Celtics rely on an excellent defense to carry a middling offense led by Irving. Both teams seemed a bit tentative in the early going and both were missing some fairly open shots. The Cavs were particularly cold from three until J.R. Smith connected. The pace began to quicken as both teams traded baskets and the lead throughout the first six minutes of the quarter. Kevin Love was ice cold, missing his first seven shots as the Celtics began to build a lead. The Cavaliers allowed the Celtics to get several offensive rebounds and missed a couple of bunnies at the rim before Tyronn Lue called a time out with a disgusted look on his face. At this point, the Cavaliers looked like what they were, a team that had played the night before, while the Celtics looked like a team that hadn’t played since New Year’s Eve (they hadn’t). The Cavs shot 29% from the quarter (with LeBron James making four of his five shots) and a three at the buzzer by Terry Rozier gave the Celtics a 32-21 lead as time expired.

2nd Quarter

Things didn’t look any better to start the second quarter. Lue started with a lineup including Dwyane Wade, Tristan Thompson, Jeff Green, and Cedi Osman, which simply didn’t have enough shooting to be effective. Lue quickly adjusted, and the Cavaliers began to show more energy on both ends as they started to cut into the Celtics’ lead to five. Kyle Korver joined LeBron as Cavaliers who were able to make shots, but the rest of the team stayed ice cold from the field. This poor shooting, combined with inconsistent defense and timely turnovers, allowed the Celtics to push their lead back to 11 before a J.R. Smith three sent both teams to the locker room with the Celtics leading 55-47 at the half. Love, Crowder, Green, Wade, and Thompson combined to shoot 3-of-22 in the half, and it was a miracle the Cavaliers were only down eight. Love also seemingly sprained his ankle at the end of the half, but would return to start the third quarter.

3rd Quarter

Kevin Love finally got on the board with a layup to start the second half, but the Celtics went on an 15-2 run behind a barrage of threes to push their lead to 18. Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Jaylen Brown all got in on the action, and the game began to slip away from the Cavaliers. They looked tired on offense, and put no effort on defense. It seemed like for every shot the Cavaliers made, the Celtics would make two. At one point, that was literally true, as the Celtics were outscoring the Cavaliers 20-10 in the first six minutes of the quarter and led by 20. The Cavs had no ball movement, and LeBron began to try to do everything himself, which only made matters worse as the Celtics loaded up against him defensively and forced him to miss some ugly shots. The Cavaliers continued to struggle with finishing at the rim, but the Celtics finally began missing some shots, and were unable to turn the game into a total blowout. A three by Kyle Korver brought the Cavaliers to within 11, but Jaylen Brown responded with a pair of dunks as the Celtics led 81-68 heading into the final frame. Love tried to return with two minutes left in the quarter, but pulled himself after about a minute of action as his ankle was just bothering him too much.

4th Quarter

The Celtics began the quarter on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 19 and all but end the game. The Cavaliers didn’t score until the 8:36 mark in the quarter on a jumper by Dwyane Wade. At this point, the Cavs could barely be asked to move on either end of the court, and the Celtics pushed the lead to 21. Garbage time ensued, as the Cavaliers fell by a final score of 102-88 for their fifth loss in their last seven games. The Cavs shot just 34.8% from the field and made just eight threes, ending a franchise-record streak of 26 consecutive games with at least 10 made threes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRV0zLGRGnw

Things I Noticed

Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier aren’t very good offensive players (although Rozier is solid from deep), but tonight they absolutely destroyed the Cavaliers, combining for 35 points on 14-of-26 shooting. For the Cavaliers to get blown out on a night when Kyrie Irving scores 11 points on 14 shots tells you all you need to know about how ugly this game was.

I wrote a piece defending J.R. Smith a few days ago, but his defense is a real problem. While he shot the ball well (4-of-6, 2-of-3 from deep), he isn’t a prolific enough offensive player to make up for his poor defense. This is compounded by the fact that his role is to guard the oppositions best scoring guard. Smith’s defense was never quite as good as people have said, but he needs to at least be competent on that end considering the importance of his role there. Getting torched by the likes of Smart and Rozier just won’t cut it.

J.R. isn’t the only player whose defense is a problem. Far too often, the Cavaliers fail to rotate on defense or simply watch an opposing player take a wide open three instead of attempting to close out. While they don’t have the personnel to be a great defensive team, the Cavaliers have shown in small stretches that they can be competent on that end. They need to work on building solid defensive habits if they want to reach their full potential.

Tristan Thompson is starting to look like Tristan Thompson again. Thompson was one of the few Cavaliers who looked active on both ends, as he finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. His plus/minus of -6 in 29 minutes isn’t great, but he’s no more at fault for that than any other player on the team. Thompson has received more criticism than he deserves lately, and it’s a shame that some fans can’t appreciate the effort he brings every night.

Jose Calderon has given the Cavaliers more than anyone expected, but the impending upgrade from Calderon to Isaiah Thomas cannot be overstated. The Cavaliers will be going from a borderline second-string point guard who looked like he was on his way out of the league to a perennial All-Star and one of the best scorers in the league. With Smith shooting so much less, the Cavaliers are getting almost no offensive production out of their starting backcourt. When Thomas replaces Calderon in the starting lineup, that will change in a big way.

Cavs fans be like … pic.twitter.com/B3avGNqeXd

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 4, 2018

While Dave’s comment is more than a little tongue-in-cheek, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. The Cavaliers are an older team that is currently figuring out their rotation after having Thompson and Thomas return from injury. The Celtics are a talented young team that plays hard and is very well coached. They deserve the success they’ve had. That being said, a win at home in January on three days rest against a team that played the night before and has been on the road for most of the past two weeks doesn’t prove much, especially when the other team has a notorious on/off switch in the regular season.

Talking to Kevin in locker room Postgame, he says there is no concern regarding playing Saturday in Orlando (given time and opportunity from now until Saturday to get treatment & rest)

Also: IT, Ty says, will be back in action vs Orlando Saturday. #Cavs

— Allie Clifton (@RealAClifton) January 4, 2018

The Cavaliers are back in action Saturday against the Orlando Magic. Hopefully the entire rotation is healthy. Until then, have a safe and happy new year.