NBA

Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics

· NBA Cup - Group Play
15-1, 7-1 Away
Final
117 - 120

12-3, 5-2 Home

Celtics hand Cavaliers first loss of season, winning 120-117 to end Cleveland's 15-game win streak

Donovan Mitchell bloodied by Jayson Tatum's hard foul

Cleveland cut a 21-point deficit to two in the third quarter, and Donovan Mitchell hit a rainbow 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to make it a four-point game. Tatum sank one of two free throws, and then clobbered Mitchell at the other end, leaving the Cavaliers guard on the floor in need of medical attention.

Mitchell eventually stepped to the line and sank both free throws, but Boston inbounded the ball without trouble and passed it downcourt for an easy Al Horford dunk to clinch it.

Tatum sank six of Boston’s 22 3-pointers, and added seven assists for Boston’s third straight win.

Mitchell scored 35 points, and Evan Mobley had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were the fourth team in NBA history to open the season with 15 wins in a row. The 15-game winning streak was longest in Cavaliers franchise history.

Takeaways Cleveland was an early surprise as the top team in the Eastern Conference, but it knows it will not be easy to get past Boston, should they meet in the playoffs.

Key moment The Celtics scored 19 of the last 26 points in the second quarter to turn a five-point lead into a 65-48 advantage at the break. Cleveland cut a 21-point deficit to two points in the third.

Key stat The Celtics were 14 for 22 from 3-point range in the first half. They were up by five points with 5:05 left when they hit four straight 3’s, and six in all down the stretch, opening a 65-48 halftime lead.

Up next Cavaliers: Host New Orleans on Wednesday.

Celtics: Visit the Washington Wizards on Friday, a day after visiting the White House as a perk of their 18th NBA championship.

Regular Season Series

BOS leads series 1-0

Matchup Prediction

Celtics: 62.5%
Cavaliers: 37.5%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 117 - 120
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 117 - 120
4th 0.0 (00:00) [Cavaliers] REF-INITIATED REVIEW (REPLAY SUPPORTS CALL) 117 - 120
4th 0.0 Ty Jerome makes 14-foot jump bank shot (Evan Mobley assists) 117 - 120
4th 2.0 Evan Mobley offensive rebound 115 - 120

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/cle.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCLE https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/bos.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOS
46-93 FG 44-86
49.5 Field Goal % 51.2
10-29 3PT 22-41
34.5 Three Point % 53.7
15-17 FT 10-14
88.2 Free Throw % 71.4
41 Rebounds 42
12 Offensive Rebounds 9
29 Defensive Rebounds 33
30 Assists 32
4 Steals 4
3 Blocks 4
7 Turnovers 13
0 Team Turnovers 0
7 Total Turnovers 13
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
8 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 20
14 Fast Break Points 6
60 Points in Paint 36
15 Fouls 19
2 Largest Lead 21

Game Information

TD Garden

Location: Boston, MA
Attendance: 19,156 · Capacity:

2024-25 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 26 4 .867 - W5
Milwaukee 16 12 .571 9 W2
Indiana 15 15 .500 11 W5
Chicago 13 17 .433 13 L2
Detroit 13 17 .433 13 W2

2024-25 Atlantic Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Boston 22 7 .759 - L1
New York 19 10 .655 3 W4
Brooklyn 11 18 .379 11 L2
Philadelphia 10 17 .370 11 W1
Toronto 7 23 .233 15.5 L8
Full Standings

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