The Celtics cruised to a 120-95 Game 1 win over the Cavaliers on Monday.
Much like in the first round against the Heat, Jaylen Brown (32 points) and Derrick White (25 points) led the scoring charge for Boston.
Jayson Tatum’s shooting struggles continued in Tuesday’s victory. He finished with 18 points on 7 for 19 shooting. But the Celtics aren’t worried.
“I think he’s doing a great job of taking what the defense gives him and finding any way to impact the game on both ends of the floor,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “That’s what we need him to be, and he’s doing a really good job of it.”
Advertisement
Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 33 points in Game 1, but he feels his team still needs to improve offensively to have success.
“We got (42) 3s up and we hit 11,” Mitchell said. “I think the biggest thing now is just being able to hit and knock them down.”
Here’s your preview.
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: TD Garden, Boston
TV, radio: ESPN, WBZ-FM 98.5
Line: Boston -13.5. O/U: 212.0.
CAVALIERS
Season record: 52-38. vs. spread: 41-48, 1 push. Over/under: 44-45, 1 push
Last 10 games: 5-5. vs. spread: 4-6. Over/under: 6-4
CELTICS
Season record: 69-19. vs. spread: 47-37, 4 pushes. Over/under: 46-42
Last 10 games: 7-3. vs. spread: 6-3, 1 push. Over/under: 6-4
TEAM STATISTICS (2022-23 season)
Points per game: Cleveland 112.3, Boston 117.9
Points allowed per game: Cleveland 106.9, Boston 111.4
Field goal percentage: Cleveland .488, Boston .475
Opponent field goal percentage: Cleveland .468, Boston .463
3-point percentage: Cleveland .367, Boston .377
Opponent 3-point percentage: Cleveland .368, Boston .345
Stat of the day: In the Celtics’ first six playoff games this postseason, they have an offensive rating of 126.4 with Jayson Tatum on the floor. It dips to 101.7 when Tatum is out.
Advertisement
Notes: Brown said it would be a mistake to read too much into the Game 1 result, especially since Cleveland had little time to recover after it advanced with a Game 7 victory over Orlando on Sunday. ... “Anything can happen,” Brown said. “It’s the NBA playoffs. We’re just taking it one game at a time and that’s all we can control. And we try to come out, be the harder playing team. We stick to our agenda and we let the chips fall where they may. It’s gonna be tough for a team to have to beat us four times. But as long as we come out, we execute both ends, we’re the harder playing team, I think we’ll be fine.”
Eli Cloutier can be reached at eli.cloutier@globe.com. Follow him @iamelicloutier.