Three Reasons The Cavs Lost To The Boston Celtics
The losses are starting to stack up for the Cleveland Cavaliers which is not at all what a team wants at this point in the season. With their 113-117 loss to the Boston Celtics, the Cavs are now just 1-and-4 since the All-Star break.
These are some reasons that Cleveland wasn't able to get the deal done against the Celtics.
1. Make Free Throws
Unfortunately, this seems like it's been a reoccurring theme throughout the entirety of the season and it's March 1, and we're still talking about it. Cleveland needs to make their free throws.
They shot 62 percent from the line against the Celtics and left eight points on the line. How many points did they lose by? 5. These free opportunities could've resulted in a completely different outcome than what we saw.
Free throws have plagued the Cavs in the past and that trend continued.
2. Bench Points
The Cavs scored 113 points against Boston. That's just above their season average of 111.9 points per game, but the way they scored those points wasn't consistent with what they've done this season.
Of the 113 points they scored, only 14 of them came from the bench. Caris LeVert scored 10 ad Ricky Rubio had four. After that, they had no more bench production.
The starters showed up with Donovan Mitchell dropping yet another 40+ points performance and Darius Garland had a respectable 29. But they can't do everything.
The teams that make deep playoff runs typically have depth and the Cavs are showing that may not be one of their strengths.
3. Third Quarter Meltdown
If I were to point to a specific moment or time frame in which the Cavs truly lost this game, it would have to be the first few minutes of the third quarter.
Cleveland actually played a fantastic first half of basketball. Maybe even one of their best all season. They went into the break only trailing by three points to the Celtics.
However, Boston came out of the locker room and attacked the Cavs and they never had a response. Cleveland was outscored 41-26 in the third quarter and was left trying to get themselves back into the game the rest of the way.
The Cavs will get a shot to clinch the season series the next time they see the Celtics on Monday night at home.
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