BSJ Game Report: Cavaliers 117, Celtics 110- Embarrassing effort leads to costly loss

Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 117-110 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

The Celtics should be embarrassed. If there is any more indictment of this Celtics team’s effort, it’s that they scored 38 points in the entire first half but then 36 points in the third and fourth quarters. The effort in the second half was much better, but by then the Cavs were rolling. Their first half was abysmal, and it was clear that they wanted to shoot the Cavs out of the game early. 

“I thought we came out of the gate with really good effort and what happened was I thought we were affected by missing shots,” Brad Stevens said after the game. “I don't disagree that towards the middle and the end of the first half, we looked like we weren't playing as urgent. But it wasn't that we came out that way in my opinion.” 

The Celtics can’t blow these opportunities. This is an eight game in 12 night stretch with two games against Milwaukee and a back-to-back against a feisty Oklahoma City Thunder team. Cleveland is a team they should have beaten. Two-and-a-half games separate the fourth-through-eighth seeds. 

The Celtics now have the same record as the Atlanta Hawks. 

TURNING POINT

Darius Garland hit a floater with 2:33 left to make it a 6 point game. It was followed by a Jaylen Brown missed 3-point shot, and Cleveland ran off that miss to get Isaac Okoro a dunk and foul to push the Cavs led back up to 9. It was part of a 10-2 run.

SECOND GUESS

Brad Stevens should have probably gone with Robert Williams sooner in the game when it was clear the Celtics perimeter defense was letting too much penetration through. At the very least, they could have started the second half with him. 

“We’ve wanted to be conservative with Rob for a reason, and that reason is we want him to be able to get through the whole year and feel really good when that year is over,” Stevens said. “Obviously I need to get him in there as much as possible. I probably, to be honest, I should’ve played Tacko. He’s probably the other guy that could’ve impacted some of those rim shots better when Rob wasn’t in the game.”

Also, Jeff Teague has turned back into a pumpkin and his minutes were brutally bad. Some guys should get longer leashes, but guys like Teague are either on or they’re not. 

TOP PLAY

[embed]https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1372364030862524417[/embed]

TWO UP

The late surge: At least the Celtics had a little bit of pride at the end of the game. If only they’d realize that putting that kind of effort in from the start would have built a big lead. 

Jaylen Brown/Jayson Tatum in the second half: They woke up to combine for 45 second half points on 17-33 shooting (Brown was 1-8 on his 3-pointers though). Brown had a crucial third quarter stretch to continue chipping away at the Cavs lead while Tatum dropped 15 points in the fourth as the C's nearly stole this one.

THREE DOWN

The first half in general: When Tatum was asked why the Celtics started poorly, he answered “I don’t know,” which is a pretty bad answer. The Celtics have a very bad habit of starting slow against bad teams. This is one of those times that it cost them.

The perimeter defense: Defense around the NBA is struggling but the Celtics continue to get torched off the dribble Collin Sexton and Darius Garland are too fast for good defenses sometimes, and when the Celtics let those guys get comfortable, it was clear that this would be a long night.

Free throw shooting: The Celtics are 23rd in the league in free throw shooting at 75.6%. They shot 20-29 in this game (69%), leaving critical points on the floor. Even if they hit four or five more, it could have changed the complexion of the game by putting pressure on the young Cavs.

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

I don’t know if the early deep playoff runs have inflated the egos of some of these guys but there seems to be some sort of feeling that just walking into the gym and announcing their presence is enough against teams deemed to be lesser competition. 

It’s been an issue for some time, and it’s been exacerbated with all of the madness of this season.

Collectively, this team lacks the talent to match any inflated sense of self. They aren’t cruising their way to bad wins like good teams do. They generally can’t lollygag their way through three quarters, flip a switch, and grab a sloppy “let’s just grab this W and leave” kind of win. 

When they are fully healthy and fully engaged, they’re a dangerous group. When they’re not, when they’re going through the motions, they’re mediocre at best. 

This is a tough season with tough challenges. It’s clear that this whole exercise is taking a toll on everyone. But when they find the effort late in the game to play hard, that means it was there the whole time. 

They need to start finding it early, or else things will end badly.