Celts
BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 10 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 on Wednesday night to achieve the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight yr.
Al Horford added 22 points, 15 rebounds and 6 of the Celtics' 19 3-pointers to record their third straight win within the series and a 4-1 victory. The Celtics now await the winner of the matchup between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers. New York leads this series 3-2.
The Cavaliers played extremely undermanned without All-Star Donovan Mitchell (calf), center Jarrett Allen (rib) and key reserve Caris LeVert (knee).
Cleveland stayed close through the primary three quarters and got inside 88-85 early within the fourth. The Celtics then went on a 13-2 run to take a 101-87 lead with 6:44 to play.
Evan Mobley scored a playoff career-best 33 points and had seven rebounds. Marcus Morris Sr. had five 3-pointers and finished the sport with 25 points.
A summer of uncertainty now begins for Cleveland, with the longer term of Mitchell and coach JB Bickerstaff within the highlight.
Mitchell gave his all for the Cavs in his second postseason with Cleveland. He earned his fifth regular-season All-Star appearance. He averaged 29.6 points in these playoffs but didn’t appear in any of the ultimate two games.
The end of Mitchell's tenure in Cleveland could potentially happen in the identical TD Garden arena where LeBron James played his final game with the Cavs before leaving for Miami in 2010.
Mitchell is eligible to sign a contract extension but has shown no signs of being desperate to stay or leave Cleveland.
Bickerstaff is completing his fourth full season as Cleveland's coach. Including the 11 games he coached after taking up for John Beilein in the course of the 2019-20 season, Bickerstaff is 170-159 with two playoff appearances.
Similar to Game 4 without Mitchell, the Cavs used the 3-point line to maintain pace with the Celtics, making 8 of 19 in the primary 24 minutes.
Cleveland began the second quarter by connecting on 4 of 5 attempts from beyond the arc to take a 46-40 lead. The Cavs also got solid minutes off the bench from Marcus Morris Sr., who scored 14 points in his first 12 minutes of play.
But Boston rallied and closed with an 18-6 run to take a 58-52 halftime lead.
image credit : www.boston.com