Final: Celtics 112, Cavs 105 - Derrick White's huge 4th holds off Cavs

BOSTON CELTICS (35-15) at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (40-9)

Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, 7:30 p.m. - TNT, truTV, Max/NBC Sports Boston

Line: Celtics -1.5

INJURIES

Boston: None

Cavs: Isaac Okoro (OUT, shoulder), Dean Wade (OUT, knee)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Playoff focus: All the January doldrum stuff should be tossed out the window for this one. The Celtics are the second seed, but they are the team to beat in the East and they should be looking to send that message tonight. It’s not about revealing any big, new wrinkles. This is about Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading with a focused effort on the defensive end and then it translating to good, fluid offense. I’m willing to excuse some of the effort stuff in other games, but if they can’t get juiced for this matchup, then I’ll be a bit disappointed. It’s a game against the top seed on TNT. Come on. 

2. Attack Garland, but without slowing the offense down: It bothers me a little when the Celtics devolve into just one-on-one matchup-hunting. They can attack the Garland matchup by getting by him and drawing the help, which puts the Cavs into rotation. They can go at Garland quickly and force the Cavs to make quick decisions. That will invariably lead to openings in the defense because quick decisions aren’t perfect. Play with some pace and maybe pull Evan Mobley out of position and get him into foul trouble.

3. Offensive rebounds: Limit their second chances and try to pump up your own field goal attempts by crashing. The Celtics offense is at its best when the guards are crashing from the corners and when guys are tipping rebounds to keep them alive.

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.