Final: Celtics 116, Cavs 106 - C's snap 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, 8 rebounds and five assists, helping the visitors close out the fourth quarter strong and pull away with a 116-106 victory. Jayson Tatum scored all of his 21 points in the first half, stepping up the scoring load for a resting Kyrie Irving.

Aron Baynes also made his first start of the season with Al Horford since November, playing a season-high 25 minutes against the Cavs big front line. 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.

The win pulls Boston within 1.5 games of the Pacers for the No. 4 seed with a huge matchup looming on Friday night at the Garden. 

First Half Notes

• Too many long 2s from Smart/Rozier early


• Morris burned by a cut immediately after being subbed in


• Baynes/Horford get the start in order to settle things down against the front line


• Morris/Hayward first off the bench in place of Rozier/Horford


• Tatum with seven quick points to kick off 11-2 run and put C’s offense in control after a tough start.


• C’s benefitting from a lot of missed bunnies early.


• Clarkson getting whatever he wants inside the Celtics defense.


• Nice close to quarter by Brown and Hayward with ball movement.


• Theis still struggling on the interior with Baynes and Horford resting.


• Yabusele might be moving ahead of Theis in the bench big rotation with his defense. It’s been more respectable than Theis lately.


• C’s taking some tough shots with second unit combo of Morris/Hayward/Rozier.


• Transition defense issues still in play as guys aren’t picking up for each other after misses


• Morris misses five of his first six shots


• C’s play Baynes/Horford together for 10 of Horford’s 11 minutes.


• Tatum finishes with a career-high 21 points for a half, more than halfway to his career-high of 34.


• C’s close out the half with a 7-0. Doing a nice job containing the Cavs on the glass.


• Some pathetic transition defense by Cavs in this one, showing off why they are the worst defense in the league by far.

• Kyrie Irving will get the night off for load management, but the Celtics frontcourt will get a boost with the returns of Al Horford (knee) and Jayson Tatum (back). Robert Williams remains out with a bruised back.


• This will be the fourth and final matchup between the two teams this year. The Celtics will be going for the season sweep with the win, having won three straight already against the Cavs, including two without Irving.


• Terry Rozier has been on fire against the Cavs in three games this year, shooting 57 percent from the field and 63 percent from 3-point range while averaging 14.7 points per game in two starts.


• The Celtics are currently tied for the longest losing streak in the NBA at four games with three other lottery teams. They remain two games behind the Pacers for the No. 4 seed in the East with eight games to play.