Recap: Celtics can’t catch-up to Cleveland Cavaliers, lose 110-79
CLEVELAND -- LeBron James and the Cavaliers were more than enough for the Celtics tonight. The Cavaliers led by as many as 44 points and were out of reach for the majority of this match-up. Kelly Olynyk remained out of the mix for Boston but Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love both got the green light for Cleveland.
First Quarter: The first points of the game for the Celtics came at 10:15 on an 18-footer from Zeller who joined Bass, Turner, Bradley and Smart in the starting line-up. The Celtics had a slow start and were held to just 16 points for the quarter. Avery Bradley was lead scorer for the quarter with 5 points. The Celtics didn’t score in the last 2:21 of the quarter and ended the 1st with a 13 point deficit 29-16.
2nd Quarter: The second quarter showed slight improvement with the Celtics putting 20 points on the board but at the same time, allowing Cleveland to put up 32. By the 10 minute mark of the 2nd quarter, Cleveland was on a 31-9 run. A third of the way into the quarter, the Cavaliers were 4/10 in 3 point shooting to the Celtics 1/9 and the Celtics were shooting 35%. At the 6:48 mark, Shavlik Randolph (4 pts + 4 rebounds tonight) came into the game, quickly made a basket and created a jump ball with Cleveland’s Mozgov. With 3:30 left in the 2nd quarter, the Celtics were 1 of 2 FT’s and the Cavaliers, 9 for 9 from the line. The quarter showed efficient play by Bradley and Bass but it wasn’t enough for JR Smith’s three's or Love’s 7 rebounds. LeBron had 21 points at the close of the half with the score at 61-36.
Halftime Hopes: Brad Stevens expressed his hope for more ball movement and better help on D entering the 3rd quarter.
3rd Quarter: The second goaltending call of the game against the Celtics came in the 3rd against Bass, the 1st being against Smart in the 1st. At the 3rd quarter’s 7 min mark, the Cavaliers were on another run, this time 10-0. With 3 mins left in the quarter, Luigi "Gigi" Datome came into the game for the Celtics. The Celtics shot 22/65 thus far in the game and scored ½ as many points as Cleveland in the 3rd quarter – allowing them their best offensive stretch at 34 points with Boston scoring 17.
Record Setting: During the 3rd quarter, LeBron hit the 25 point mark in the game and passed Ray Allen on the NBA All Time Scoring list, moving into the 21st spot.
4th Quarter: The 4th started with Cleveland leading by 42 points: 95-53. The Celtics starting line-up for the 4th quarter gave us the combo of Datome, Wallace, Pressey, Crowder and Jerebko. They hit the floor and led the most productive offensive quarter for the Celtics tonight with 26 points and holding the Cavaliers to 15 points.
Boston Notables: Datome had his first points as a Boston Celtic with a three. He had 7 points and 5 rebounds in the game.
Brandon Bass lead all Celtics scorers with 15 (10 of which came in the 2nd quarter) followed by Thomas with 11 points on the night.
Jerebko, Datome, Wallace, Smart and Bass each pulled down 5 rebounds.
The only active Celtic who didn’t score tonight was Gerald Wallace.
Cleveland Notables: LeBron James finished the night with 27 points in 26 minutes of play.
Kyrie Irving was second leading scorer with 18 and Kevin Love went 4/10; 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Our "old friend," Kendrick Perkins went 2/7 on the night with 5 points.
Up Next: The Celtics head home for their match-up against the Utah Jazz tomorrow night.
Box Scores:
Follow Steph on Twitter @stephmbenz
