The Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-98 Sunday afternoon at Rocket Arena and sweep the regular season series 3-0.
Jaylen Brown recorded a near triple-double of 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while Jayson Tatum scored 12 of his 20 points in the first quarter of his second game back from a torn Achilles.
"Today felt a lot more normal, just from a preparation standpoint in this league," Tatum said postgame. "It felt like being back in the flow again. It's just amazing how happy I am to be back and wanting to be out there more."
Payton Pritchard had 18 points, seven assists, while Baylor Scheierman recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points (4-of-6 from deep), 10 rebounds and Sam Hauser chipped in 15 points for the Celtics -- who improved to 43-21 and are 2.5 games back of the first place Detroit Pistons in the East standings.
Donovan Mitchell had a game-high 30 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists, while Evan Mobley netted 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds and James Harden notched 19 points, 10 assists for the Cavaliers -- who were playing without Jarrett Allen (knee) and dropped to 39-25 on the season.
The Celtics, playing without Nikola Vučević (finger fracture), trailed 11-3 to start the game before using a 32-15 run to close the first period and never looked back. Boston held the Cavs to only 10-second quarter points on 4-of-25 from the field, including going 0-of-14 from 3-point range (2-of-22 in the first half), to take a 56-36 advantage into the break.
Boston led 81-55 late in the third (the largest margin of the afternoon) before the Cavaliers cut into the deficit and made it 86-69 heading into the final frame and used a 17-8 spurt to make a single-digit game. Pritchard hit a 3-pointer to stop the run and followed it with back-to-back shots to push the C's lead back to double-digits and Cleveland never recovered -- as they got their seven-game home streak snapped.
"I thought Payton and Jaylen were great in the second half," Joe Mazzulla said in his postgame comments. "When teams are switching and they're physical and they're picking up fullcourt, we've got to do a better job of getting proactive faster and you've got to make plays, and I thought both Payton and Jaylen made plays inside the 3-point [line].
The Celtics continue their mini three-game road trip Tuesday when they face the San Antonio Spurs (47-17). NBC/Peacock will have the tip-off at 8:00 pm ET.
Game Notes:
Boston shot 44% from the field, including 15-of-38 (39%) from 3-point range while the Cavs were 41% from the floor and 13-of-45 (29%) from beyond the arc. The Celtics won the rebound battle 49-42, but were outscored in the paint 38-32. The C's finished with 25 assists on 37 baskets and 12 committed turnovers, while Cleveland had 23 dimes on 35 made shots and turned the ball over nine times.
Joel Pavón
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