BSJ Game Report: Cavaliers 91, Celtics 89 - Ugly collapse caps ugly game

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics 91-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL...

The Celtics slowly built a big lead against the Cavaliers, and, while they were not making many shots, the Cavs were making even fewer. They’d held rookie phenom Evan Mobley largely in check and cooled off Darius Garland after a hot start. It wasn’t pretty, but they had a 19 point lead and they were making the Cavaliers look like the team everyone expected the Cavs to be coming into the season. 

And then the fourth quarter happened.

Boston shot 4-13 and turned the ball over 7 times. Cleveland shot 10-21 and turned it over once. 

Bye bye lead. Hello, extra heavy pour from the bourbon bottle for Celtics fans. 

Starting at 1:40 in the 3rd quarter, the Cavs went on a 21-2 run to grab their first lead of the game (77-76), and they held on from there.

This game wasn’t pretty at all, and so maybe the ugly collapse was appropriate.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Again? Seriously?: I’m not going to blame anyone for feeling a Lucy/Charlie Brown football dynamic with this team right now. They had just gone through a pretty nice stretch of basketball where it felt ok to say that they were hitting a stride. 

There were mitigating circumstances: No Al Horford, no Jaylen Brown, no Josh Richardson. That is all something that needs to be taken into account. Plus, that fourth-quarter lineup was clearly not one that would normally be used. 

Jayson Tatum’s funk is just weird now: 8-22 shooting in this one, including 1-8 from 3. He is shooting 38.8% on the season. It’s still not something that’s of concern, per se, but it’s wild that he’s gone this long still mired in it.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics went with an all bench unit between the third and fourth quarters in an effort to steal some rest for the starters on a back-to-back.

“They did a great job in the second quarter of extending the lead before our guys came back,” Ime Udoka said. “Hoped for the same, and we lost the lead.”

It was okay to end the third, giving up just two points off the halftime lead. It disintegrated to start the fourth. 

SECOND GUESS

They actually called a last-second play for Dennis Schröder. This isn’t a second guess of this game so much as it is a note that calling a last-second play for someone other than Tatum is possible, and sometimes when Brown is on the floor, Ime Udoka should try doing that. 

UP/DOWN (This one is weird tonight)

UP: Dennis Schröder (Quarters 1-3): He was impressive through three quarters. 21 points on 61.5% shooting and just 2 turnovers. 

DOWN: Schröder (4th quarter): 2-6 shooting and 2 turnovers. 

UP: Marcus Smart: For most of the game, Smart was playing pretty well despite not hitting a basket. He was passing brilliantly (8 assists) and defending extraordinarily well (5 steals). He was in control. He was even a steadying force in the fourth quarter with a steady diet of post-ups that were productive.

DOWN: Marcus Smart (late 4th quarter): Late in the game, Smart was part of the confusion that left Jarrett Allen open for an alley oop. And then Garland blew by him, forcing him to foul. Garland’s free throws were the difference. 

UP: Robert Williams: Williams was good all night. 16 rebounds, including another 5 offensive boards, to go along with 12 points, 3 assists, a steal, and 3 blocks. I thought Williams was going to make an impact playing a little differently, but he’s been great.

DOWN: Jayson Tatum: I don’t know what else to say about his night. He’s just flat-out cold. Every time I think seeing a certain shot go in will spur a hot streak, he misses. He also had 3 rough fourth-quarter turnovers, two of which were converted into fastbreak layups. 

DOWN: The bench: Romeo Langford had some really good moments earlier in the game, but this was an opportunity for them to prove why they deserved minutes. And it’s hard to not play with each other for a while and then suddenly be thrust into a game where they’re asked to play a bunch. It’s a tough situation for everyone. 

TOP PLAY

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What more can I say about this game that hasn’t been said in past collapses? 

“We relaxed all the way. It’s been something we’ve been doing a lot lately,” Robert Williams said. “Really just need to fix it. That’s all I can say. We relaxed too much.”

Yep. They did. 

In a vacuum, it’s a brutal loss. Another bad one for the C’s. In the grand scheme of things, we can maybe say flipped performances from last night and it all evens out. We can look at the recent stretch of good performances and rationalize a late collapse against a tough young team on a shorthanded night and a home/road back-to-back. 

That doesn’t mean that blowing double-digit fourth-quarter leads is acceptable. It’s not. It’s just that I don’t feel the same thing in this one as I did against Chicago, even though two fourth-quarter collapses like that so early in the season are obviously not great. 

Am I numb to it? Maybe. The Celtics can be good, but only when they’re fully engaged for a full 48 minutes or when they’re whole. They could have used an Al Horford stretch late in the game to calm things down. 

On the plus side, Jaylen Brown told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin that he hopes to play Monday. So that’s something positive.