From Boos To MVP Chants, The Cavs' Resilient Win Over The Celtics
What a wild ride the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics game was on Monday night. I'm not sure I would believe it if I were told at halftime the Cavs would come away with an overtime win. Behold the 118-114 final score which shows that's exactly what they did.
The Cavs had a rough go of it in the first half. They found themselves down 12 points to a Boston team that was missing three of their starters Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Robert Williams III. Despite this, the Celtics still shot 52 percent from three and from the floor and forced nine Cavalier turnovers.
Giving the ball away was just scratching the surface of what went wrong for the Cavs through the first 24 minutes.
Cleveland's defense was terrible in the first two quarters as they gave up 68 points to an undermanned Celtics team. This included 36 bench points with the majority coming from Malcolm Brogdon.
They also were outworked in the paint. Even though the Cavs technically outscored Boston down low, the Celtics were missing both of their starting frontcourt members while the Cavs have two of the best defenders in the paint in the NBA with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
The crowd had seen enough of this underperforming product that was on the floor and let them know it as some fans let the "boos" come out as the first half was winding down.
Mar 6, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) celebrates after the Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
But just 20 minutes (in-game time) later, those same fans were chanting "MVP" for Donovan Mitchell as he was at the free-throw line. Both cheers from the crowd were warranted too despite being on opposite sides of the spectrum.
After everything went wrong for the Cavs in the third quarter, everything seemed to go their way in the fourth. They outscored Boston 31-17 in the fourth to send it to overtime where they secured the win.
This says a lot about the Cavs as a team. They stuck it out even when down big and willed their way to victory.
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