BSJ Game Report: Celtics 125, Cavs 105 - Brown scores 30, Minott brings defensive energy

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' win over the Cavs, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Sam Hauser scored 15 first-quarter points, but the Cavs were 10-12 from 3 to take a two-point lead. The teams went back and forth in the second before a monster C’s run gave them a 15-point halftime lead. The lead settled at 13 after 3, but the Celtics had plenty of chances to get it up past 20. The Cavs made a couple of pushes in the fourth, but Josh Minott’s energy helped hold them off. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- HUGE win: The Cavs were a little complicit in this, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve been saying for a while that this was a tough stretch to start the season, and this win suddenly makes the optimistic view of this team a little more real. Any time the Celtics get a win over a good team, it’s a huge boost to their long-term outlook. 

- Shooting returns … somewhat: Derrick White and Payton Pritchard won’t agree, but the shooting was where Boston needed to be to win games like this. They were around 40% for most of the night and at one point were 20-50 before a tough ending stretch. 

- Josh Minott makes an impact: He had a career-high 14 rebounds, including a career-high five offensive boards. He also had three steals and a couple of 3-pointers and seemed to be in the middle of everything positive in the fourth quarter. 

TURNING POINT 

I’m going to highlight two spots here. The obvious one is the 20-3 run to end the second quarter, highlighted by a ridiculous Jaylen Brown buzzer beater: 

At that point, the Celtics had been playing well, but the Cavs were shooting the lights out, and the Celtics couldn't shake them. The run built a 15-point lead that they carried for a long time in the third. In fact, they had multiple chances to take it to 20 or more, but they just couldn't. 

Which brings me to the second spot. 

The Cavs cut it down to 12 with 2:57 to go in the third, and it was looking like Boston was about to have another opponent walk down a big lead on them. Then Derrick White scored, Anfernee Simons banked in a 3 to beat the shot clock, and Neemias Queta drew a foul and hit a free throw to get a quick six-point answer. 

It wasn’t necessarily the end of the Cavs' threat in the game, but it helped the Celtics keep the lead in the teens heading into the fourth, which does wonders for a team’s confidence. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: He had 13 of his 30 in that end of the second quarter run. It’s a testament to his start that 30 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 60/44/100 splits in a win over a championship contender isn’t the biggest story. Obviously, a cold shooting night will eat into his 3-point shooting percentage, but he’s opened the season shooting about 48% from 3 and on normal volume. 

- Payton Pritchard: He finished with just 10 points because he shot 31% overall and 1-8 from 3. But he dished 10 assists and had a couple of steals. I thought he played really well and was in control of the game. 

- Josh Minott: I highlighted him in my three things to watch because I thought he’d be important in limiting Evan Mobley and it worked perfectly. Mobley was a ghost for most of this game and Minott was a ball of energy. 

“Josh has been great. We just got to keep building on it,” Brown said after the game. “Tonight was an excellent game for him. That's exactly what we need. Then on offense, he was able to get out and be aggressive a little bit, hit a couple of shots when he was open, so hopefully that builds his confidence because we're going to need to that consistently from him and I think he can do it. I think he's talented enough to do it.”

- Neemias Queta: His 13 rebounds were a career-high, and he also grabbed five offensive boards to help the Celtics easily win that battle. He also played some really good defense late in the game. 

- Sam Hauser: He came in blistering hot to hit his first four 3-pointers, which was, in retrospect, a low-key critical part of this game. The Cavs shot 10-12 in the first quarter in a blitz that could have been a huge problem for the Celtics had Hauser not matched them. He also hit a pair of big 3s in the fourth quarter. 

“The game's funny sometimes,” Hauser said. “I check in, I get four shots, like, in the first minute, and then hit another one at the end of the first and then I don't touch it for two quarters. And then it comes back around to the fourth.” 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Derrick White still slumping: I think the looks he got were generally pretty good. I also think he’s taking quick shots and pressing a bit. He’ll break out of it in a big way at some point, but he’s going through it right now. In fact, I thought his searching for the offense early in the fourth might have been a turning point if the Cavs came back. 

This is getting into his head. He needs to find a way to relax and let the game come to him a little more. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL REGRET LATER

- The Cavs will feel like they gift-wrapped this game for Boston … and they wouldn’t be totally wrong.

Donovan Mitchell scored 12 points in the first quarter and he hit a 3-pointer at the 10:36 mark of the second … and that was the end of his scoring. 

Evan Mobley was non-existent for most of the night. He padded his stats with nine in the fourth quarter but he was a nothing in a game where I thought he could have 30 points and 20 rebounds. 

The Cavs as a whole went into the half with just two offensive rebounds and three second-chance points. It was 16-3 Celtics in second-chance points at the half. I spent most of those 15 minutes asking people in the back why the Cavs weren’t trying to take advantage of an obvious Celtics weakness. 

Mitchell was on the injury report with hamstring soreness, so maybe that hindered him after he sat. Mobley’s performance was an abomination. He was supposed to be a franchise-changer and he simply isn’t putting it all together in that way. 

I’m not taking any credit away from the Celtics, who had to take advantage of these things to win. They generally played great and they got some incredible performances on their way to the win. But this was not the Cavs' best effort. 

Next Up: The Celtics travel to Philadelphia for a game on Friday night.