Final: Cavs 115, Celtics 111 - Donovan Mitchell carries Cavs past shorthanded C's in fourth

BOSTON CELTICS (16-3) at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (17-3)

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, 6 p.m. - NBCS Boston, NBA TV

Line: Boston -1.5

INJURIES

Boston: Jaylen Brown (OUT, illness) Derrick White (OUT, foot)

Cleveland: Max Strus (OUT, ankle), Dean Wade (OUT, ankle)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Deep rotations: A lot of guys will get opportunities to play in this one. This is The second game in a stretch of seven in nine days. So I expect the Celtics to go deeper into the rotation to help manage minutes.

2. Tatum’s scoring and passing: On one hand, I expect Tatum to try to up his production as a scorer. On the other, blitzing him is now the obvious defensive plan, so he’ll likely become more of a passer. 

I expect Tatum to lean on some tricks, like rejecting screens to avoid the traps. I also expect some screeners to slip and dive to the basket to take advantage of any blitzing. If the Celtics can make the Cavs pay for trying to double Tatum, then Tatum can go on some personal scoring runs.

3. Attacking Darius Garland: The Celtics have targeted him every chance they got, and it has bothered him. If he can hold his own, then the calculus changes. Even if he can hang tough and still keep his scoring up while he’s being targeted, then that will help negate Boston’s advantage. But if things go how they usually go and he’s an obvious negative on the floor, Boston has a strong chance of winning. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.