The Cavaliers were punished by Peyton Pritchard (42 points) and Jaylen Brown

The beginning of the match goes to the advantage Celtics (17-5), who immediately attack Cavaliers with Peyton Pritchard’s inspired scoring and whose energy spills over to the rest of the corps. However, after their +12, the visitors were penalized for a lack of cleanliness with the ball in hand. The home team used it to punish in transition and with good support from the bench they quickly reduced the deficit (28-26).

Minutes pass and Cleveland seems to be taking control of the game, with the aggressive Evan Mobley having a good night. It’s just that their tendency to lead too much from afar without keeping Anfernee Simmons off the bench or Peyton Pritchard in the top five hurts them a lot. Boston therefore, he stays in his match, multiplying “hustle plays”, and Jaylen Brown’s awakening leads to 9-0, which again creates a small gap (58-51).

Aside from Evan Mobley and Jaylon Tyson, the Cavaliers are not up to par. They accumulate lapses in concentration, get penalized on the rebound or after losing the ball, leaving the Celtics’ shooters to gain confidence and miss long shots. Peyton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser… Falls everywhere and 21-3 knocks out the whole room (86-65).

Cleveland went too far

The moment Donovan Mitchell chose to finally start hitting, and thus help Evan Mobley, always so valuable under the circle, only to sign a 14-4 that somewhat revives the Cavs (90-79). The defense is gradually increasing and creating open shots, which are appearing more and more often, and this great dynamic continues to bring the match back to two possessions, with Jaylon Tyson and Tyrese Proctor continuing to impress (92-88).

The problem for Cleveland is that all the efforts made to rally are felt at the end of the game. Skill declines, Boston restarts the machine, still pressing so close to the circle, and Peyton Pritchard takes great pleasure in punishing each of his defenders, while Jaylen Brown makes real shifts and confirms his first “triple-double” of the season.

Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell can’t do anything with their threes, and in the middle distance and on the throws, Peyton Pritchard is there to push the Cavaliers as far as possible, offering this important success to the Celtics, defeated the day before at the Timberwolves (117-115). Although Evan Mobley had the ball to go into overtime at the buzzer, he fell short on a freak final possession.

TO BE REMEMBERED

– Payton Pritchard on the big night. Peyton Pritchard came close to breaking his career high, set last March (43 points), in this role as the Cavaliers’ executioner. With his center of gravity still very low, he put his defenders to the test, punishing them as much from mid-range as from near the circle and on 3-pointers (sometimes he was a good yard behind the line). A 13-2 initiator who started the Celtics from the first minutes, “PP” proved to be one of the most decisive in “money time” with baskets and free throws.

– Cleveland in trouble. The third consecutive loss for the Cavaliers, who were certainly deprived of Jarrett Allen, Max Struss, Lonzo Ball, Sam Merrill and Larry Nance Jr., but who faced the Celtics “in a row”, but also lost the parents of Derrick White and Nemias Keta. A painful failure at home, before the trip to Indianapolis, because the visual impression was anything but attractive. Over-reliant on their outside skill and too erratic in defence, they generally showed enough, playing at AC throughout the match, while Kenny Atkinson continued to be limited in coaching terms.

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How to read statistics? Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive jump; T = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = point difference when the player is on the court; Points = Points; Rating: player rating calculated based on positive actions – negative actions.