Down 10 points at halftime, the Cleveland Cavaliers used a huge third quarter to propel them past the Orlando Magic on Sunday afternoon in Game 7 of their first round series, 106-94. Donovan Mitchell led the way with 39 points.
The Cavaliers’ now face the top-seeded, and 64 win, Boston Celtics in round 2 starting on Tuesday evening from TD Garden in Boston, MA.
The Cavaliers were 1-2 against the Celtics, who defeated the Miami Heat in round one in five games, during the regular season, losing 120-113 and 116-107 in December, and squeezing by the Celtics 105-104 on March 5 in a comeback win in which seldom used Dean Wade scored 23 points. Mitchell’s 29 and 31 points led both teams in the Cavs’ two losses.
The Celtics have a couple key contributors off their bench. One is Payton Prichard, who has turned himself into a decent playmaking guard. Prichard averaged 9.6 points in just 22.3 minutes per game in the regular season while shooting 46.8 percent from the field (eight shot attempts per game) and 39 percent from three (five three-point attempts per game). He has struggled in the postseason though, just 8-for-24 from the field.
The other is Sam Hauser, a very capable three-point shooter. He averaged 9.0 points per game in the regular season and has had two double-digit scoring efforts thus far in the postseason - 12 points in Game 1 against the Heat and 17 points in Game 5. Hauser shot 12-for-24 from deep in the first round.
The Celtics’ starting five might be the best in all of basketball. With Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, they boast a backcourt that can be stifling defensively. White (15.2/5.2/4.6/46% regular season) is a very good scorer as well. He is shooting 58 percent from the field and 48 percent from three in the playoffs, and was exceptional in the last two games in particular. In Game 4, on 15-for-26 and 8-for-15 from three, he put up 38 points. He followed that up with 25 points in Game 5. He averaged 22.4 points per game in the opening round. White and Holiday will match up against Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell and Holiday is a fascinating offense vs. defense battle. Mitchell averaged 26.6/6.1 assists/5.2 rebounds in the regular season but upped his play against the Magic. Mitchell averaged 28.7 points on 46 percent in round 1, though he was poor from deep (13-for-52). Garland, a one-time all star, will need to shine for Cavaliers. He was just 3-for-13 in Game 7, but did have 21 points in Game 6 and 23 points in Game 5. He will need to be more consistent in this series.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are the best wing duo in basketball, and we could see Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro on Tatum often. Mobley will have added pressure though if Jarrett Allen remains out with a rib injury. The Cavs’ front court depth is thin. Max Strus provides them with some shooting in the starting five that will be part of what will be a group effort to curtail and counter the top three-point shooting team in the league. Caris Levert is a spark plug off the bench, an aggressive and smooth scorer who has a 50-point game in his past against the Celtics. He will need to play big for the Cavs. Marcus Morris Sr. could also get some minutes against his former team, as could Georges Niang, the former 76er who can shoot the ball from long range.
If the Cavs at some point get Allen back in the series, it will help them immensely going up against a Kristaps Porzingis-less Celtics group. Porzingis is expected to miss this series as he recovers from his calf strain. Still, the Cavs should have an interior advantage with the younger Mobley against the veteran Al Horford, if Mobley plays to his maximum capability.
Still, the Celtics are just too good. Losing Porzingis hurts them, but it would more in conference finals than in this series. Too much three-point shooting. Too much defense. But, Mitchell has the capability to match or outplay Tatum or Brown, which might happen on a couple of occasions. Celtics in 6.
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