What Went Wrong In Cavs Game 3 Loss To Celtics?

The Cleveland Cavaliers drop Game 3 to the Boston Celtics 106-93.

May 11, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) dribbles the ball against Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4) in the third quarter of game three of the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

There was hope that the Cleveland Cavaliers could put up a strong fight against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semi-finals after the Wine and Gold blew out the Celtics on their home floor in Game 2. 

However, now the Cavs were back to where they were after Game 1. The team just lost by 20 points and the only player who really showed for all four quarters was Donovan Mitchell.

One of the main reasons Cleveland took down Boston in Game 2 was because of their dominant effort in the paint. J.B. Bickerstaff and Mitchell have said on multiple occasions that their offense starts with penetrating the defense and getting to the rim.

Boston made sure to limit that on Saturday night and it through off the entire Cavalier offense.

“I thought we got [to the paint], we just didn’t finish as well as we needed to,” said Bickerstaff after the game. “Give them credit, they were challenging and being physical with us on the finishes. But again, I thought our guys were assertive and aggressive, our guys just didn’t finish like we needed to.”

May 11, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) dribbles the ball against Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4) in the third quarter of game three of the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics outscored Cleveland 50-48 in the paint while the Cavs only made 50% of their two-point field goal attempts. That percentage has to be higher considering how poorly the Cavs have shot from behind the arc. Boston also outrebounded Cleveland 44-35 showing a true dominance of the glass. 

Cleveland showed in Game 2 that they have a game plan for how to beat the Celtics. They didn’t execute that objective in Game 3, but the series isn’t over yet.

The Cavs will have a chance to tie up this series on Monday night at 7:00 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.