BSJ Game Report: Celtics 116, Cavs 106 - Horford, Smart ensure Celtics slide comes to end taken at BSJ Headquarters (Celtics)

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Celtics

BSJ Game Report: Celtics 116, Cavs 106 - Horford, Smart ensure Celtics slide comes to end

By Brian Robb

Mar 26, 2019 • 11:59 pm

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Everything you need to know about the Celtics beating the Cavs 116-106 with BSJ insight and analysis

Box Score

HEADLINES

Celtics end four-game losing streak: It wasn't pretty at times, but Marcus Smart and Al Horford ensured on Tuesday night that the C's four-game losing streak would come to an end. Smart led the Celtics with 21 points while Horford chipped in with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, helping the visitors close out the fourth quarter strong and pull away with a 116-106 victory over a hapless Cavs squad. Jayson Tatum scored all of his 21 points in the first half, stepping up the scoring load for a resting Kyrie Irving, while six different Celtics chipped in with double figures. The win gives Boston a 4-0 season sweep over the Cavs. 

Stevens starts Baynes over Morris: After hinting at a possible shift on Sunday night, Aron Baynes made his first start of the season with Al Horford since November, playing a season-high 25 minutes against the Cavs big front line of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson. Boston had trouble containing the Cavs scoring backcourt with Colin Sexton (24 points) and Jordan Clarkson (18 points) having big guys, but the C's locked in down the stretch with a 14-4 fourth quarter to break open a tie game in the fourth quarter and cruise to the win. The Baynes/Horford duo was a plus-4 in 19 minutes.

Huge showdown looms Friday night with Pacers: The win pulled Boston within 1.5 games of the Pacers with seven games remaining in the regular season. The first of two head-to-head matchups with the Pacers in the race for the No. 4 seed looms Friday night at the Garden. A loss in that matchup would essentially force the C's to play near flawless basketball over the final six games in order to secure home-court advantage in the first round.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics second unit squandered a second-half lead early in the fourth quarter but the team managed to regain control once Horford re-entered the with just over nine minutes remaining. From there, Boston took command with a 14-4 run, breaking open 92-92 tie into a double-digit lead heading into crunch time. The run gave the Celtics enough of a cushion down the stretch to hold off the Cavs.

TWO UP

Horford: In his first game back from a sore knee, Horford maximized his production in 27 minutes. He took only high-quality looks (7-of-10 FG), bullied his way to the rim in mismatches to draw contact (5-of-6 FT) and chipped in with a team-high eight rebounds and five assists on top of his 19 points. It was his best all-around effort in weeks on a night the team needed it.  

Jayson Tatum in the first half: The 21-year-old shook out of his shooting slump in the first half, carrying the scoring load in Kyrie Irving’s absence with 21 points before the break on 9-of-14 shooting. He knocked down three 3s for the first time since February 13th, but did not manage to get on the scoreboard in the second half after attempting just three shots.   

TWO DOWN

Daniel Theis: Four fouls in nine minutes made his time on the floor ugly for the Celtics defense on most occasions. He’s not getting a friendly whistle from officials this year but his lack of quickness is making him vulnerable against quicker guards in the paints. He lost out on some minutes to Guerschon Yabusele in both halves.

Terry Rozier: The Celtics won another game with him filling in for Irving (8-2 on the year) but his decision-making remains a question mark when it comes to shot selection and defense. Stevens wisely opted to go away from him during crunch time despite the fact the Cavs were playing two quick guards. Rozier went 5-of-13 in 29 minutes.   

TOP PLAY




TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER


The Celtics are finally going to a starting lineup by committee and it’s long overdue:
It took 74 games for Brad Stevens to come to the realization but it’s become quite clear that this group does not have the consistency to play with the same group night in and night out. Baynes and Horford were the answer against a big front line of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson on Tuesday night but that’s not necessarily going to be the answer when they play teams that have bigs with serious 3-point shooting range (i.e. the Pacers). Stevens hasn’t tinkered with his starting group (unless injuries popped up) for four months now but the fact that he has come to terms with playing matchup based ball is an important step forward for this group. The question now? When the Celtics opt to go small at the five again, will it be Marcus Morris or Gordon Hayward lining up at the 4.  


Terry Rozier should see very limited minutes in the bench rotation when the postseason hits:
This wasn’t an impressive win against a very bad Cavs team that plays historically bad defense. Still, Rozier’s decision making was a liability for a major part of the night. He struggled to stay in front of Sexton and Clarkson and the offense went off the rails at time when he wasn’t sharing the floor with Horford. Given his inability to finish around the rim at a respectable level (4-of-10 from 2-point range against the NBA’s worst defense), there isn’t much that Rozier is bringing to the table over the likes of Hayward or Brown at this point except taking too many shots for his skill level. With Stevens committing to go bigger more up front for defensive purposes, those minutes are going to have to come from somewhere. The guess here is that Rozier sees a significant cut.  

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