The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers continue their seven-game series in Cleveland on Monday night as they square off for Game Four. The Celtics regained control of the series in game three with a 106-93 win over the Cavs on the road. 

Back in Control

The Celtics returned to form in Game Three against the Cavs on Saturday night as they reclaimed the series lead with a 106-93 win. Jayson Tatum had his best game of the playoffs, scoring 33 points while adding 13 rebounds and six assists to lead the Celtics. The Celtics took control of this game early and set the tone defensively throughout the game to keep the Cavs off-balance. Jaylen Brown chipped in with 28 points on an impressive 13-of-17 shooting. The Celtics scored the first 14 points of the second half to put the game out of reach.

“We don’t come to Cleveland for the weather, so let’s go,” said Brown after the win. “There’s nothing complicated about it: Play defense and the rest will take care of itself. We could have done better, but we kept them under 100.”

The Celtics are now a perfect 3-0 on the road in the playoffs and have held the opposition under 100 points in all three games. The Celtics’ defensive approach in game three was simple: make Mitchell work for his points and make everyone else beat them. Mitchell was a solid 12-of-22 from the floor but the rest of the Cavs shot just 24-of-62 for the game. The Celtics’ offense returned to form, hitting 51% of their shots including 13-of-34 from long range. The Celtics outrebounded the Cavs 44-35 in the game.

Key Injuries: Kristaps Porzingis is out.

Cavs’ Offense Disappears

The Cleveland Cavaliers, fresh off of a 55% shooting performance in game two, were held in check by a ferocious Celtics’ defense on Saturday and gave back homecourt advantage to the Celtics with the loss. Donovan Mitchell did his part with 33 points in the game the rest of the Cavs failed to deliver. The Cavs hung around in the first half but a Celtics 14-0 run to start the second half put Cleveland behind the eight ball. Evan Mobley chipped in with 17 points while Darius Garland and Caris LeVert had 15 points each but their contributions were a far cry from their efforts in game two.

“When they get going, that’s who they are,” Mitchell said. “We fought and we clawed back but that start of the third quarter, that’s what did it.”

Cleveland lost their first home game of the playoffs in game three. The team shot just 41 percent from the floor overall with only Mitchell able to shoot at least 50 percent in the game. Garland remained an inconsistent commodity for the Cavs after scoring just 15 points in the game on just 6-of-15 shooting. The Cavs did do a very good job at protecting the basketball, turning the ball over just eight times in the game but their inability to produce beyond Mitchell did them in.

Key Injuries: Jarrett Allen remains questionable after missing his sixth straight game.