The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics will battle in game two of their best-of-seven series at the TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night. The Celtics have a 1-0 lead in the series after dominantly winning game one, 120-95. The Cavs will try and tie the series up before the two teams head to Cleveland for two games. The opening tap on Thursday night is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.

Road Woes Continue
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ struggles on the road in the playoffs continued on Tuesday night in a 120-95 loss to the Celtics in game one of their best-of-seven second-round Eastern Conference series. The Cavs tried to keep pace with the high-scoring Celtics in the first quarter, scoring 34 points but still trailing 40-34. The Cavs couldn’t keep pace, however, and failed to score 20 points in two of the last three-quarters of the game. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 33 points to go along with six assists. It was his sixth straight playoff-opening game of 30 or more points, now joining Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Wilt Chamberlain in that category. Mitchell piled up 37 minutes in the game as he continues to take on a heavy load to keep the Cavs in games. The Cavs second leading scorer in the game was Darius Garland with 14 points. Mitchell’s cause has been made all the more difficult with center Jarrett Allen missing his fourth straight game with a rib injury.
“We try to put him out there as long as we can. He’s playing over 40 minutes a game. So we’re doing our best to keep him out there because we know how impactful he is,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “But we’re not going to run him into the ground, so he’s got nothing left in the fourth quarter.”

The Cavaliers will need to figure out a way to win on the road if they want to get in this series. They are now 0-4 on the road in the playoffs after yet another blowout loss last night. The Cavs’ offense also needs more contributions from more players other than Mitchell. The Cavs are 14th in the playoffs in scoring at just 95.8 points per game. They are shooting just 43.6% from the field overall and 28.3% from 3-point range. They are hitting just 8.9 3-point field goals per game in the playoffs. Defensively, the Cavs are sixth in points allowed per game at 102.8 but allowed the Celtics to score 120 on Tuesday night. They are holding the opposition to 42.9 percent shooting overall and 31.6 percent from 3-point range. The Cavs are 13th in fewest turnovers in the playoffs and just 13th in rebounding.

Celtics Roll On
The Boston Celtics were business as usual in game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night at home. The Celtics shot nearly 49 percent from the floor overall and nearly 40 percent from 3-point range and cruised to a 120-95 win. Jaylen Brown led the way with 32 points while Derrick White continued his stellar postseason with 25 points including seven 3-point field goals. Jayson Tatum had a relatively quiet night with 18 points and 11 rebounds but the Celtics pulled away comfortably in the second half to pick up their fifth win in six playoff games thus far and a 1-0 lead in this series.
“It feels good. I think the most important thing is to win,” White said. “I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter if I score zero or score however many I scored today. When we win, I’m doing enough.”

The Celtics continued their march through the playoffs with a dominant game one win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. The Celtics are now fifth in the playoffs in points per game, averaging just under 110 points per game. They are shooting nearly 48% from the field overall and nearly 39% from 3-point range while making a league-best 15.5 per game. The Celtics are second in points per game allowed. They are holding teams to 43% shooting from the field and 32% from 3-point range. The Celtics are second in the playoffs in fewest turnovers per game and second in rebounds per game.