Cavs Top Celtics Again, in Overtime

Cleveland and Boston play each other again two times over a six-day span at the start of March. Fans of both teams might want to get their tickets now.

The new-look Cavaliers and the reigning Eastern Conference champs have now faced each other twice just seven games into the 2022-23 season – with both thrillers going to overtime and the Wine and Gold taking both decisions. On Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cavs outlasted the Celtics – with Dean Wade forcing Jaylen Brown into a fadeaway miss at the buzzer, preserving the 114-113 win, Cleveland’s sixth straight. 

Wednesday’s win – which marked the return of All-Star guard Darius Garland – is the Wine and Gold’s third overtime win of the young season. The Cavaliers didn’t play an overtime game until March last year. 

Garland got the Cavs rolling early in what was truly a rollercoaster affair – drilling his first four shots, including all three three-point attempts, leading everyone with 14 points in the first period. 

Cleveland led by two touchdowns after one quarter, but Boston rallied back to take a six-point edge into intermission. The Cavs got hot again after intermission, taking a 13-point lead after three quarters only to see the Celtics claw their way back to tie the game at the end of regulation – with Jayson Tatum tying the affair on a thunderous dunk with 6.7 to play and Donovan Mitchell missing a 22-footer on the other end. 

In the extra-session, it was Garland – fittingly – who led off the scoring, drilling a triple on Cleveland’s first possession. The Cavaliers didn’t trail again the rest of the way. 

After missing the previous five games after suffering a left eye abrasion in the opener, Garland was outstanding in his return – leading Cleveland with 29 points and both teams with 12 assists, going 9-of-20 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from long-range, adding five boards and a game-high three steals. 

After dropping 41 points on the Celtics last Friday, Donovan Mitchell followed up with 25 points in Wednesday’s win – nine in the fourth quarter – going 11-for-27 from the floor, adding six assists, four boards and a pair of blocked shots. 

Jarrett Allen doubled-up for the fifth time this season – finishing with 14 points, a game-high 14 boards and two blocked shots of his own. 

Evan Mobley was an efficient 7-of-8 from the floor, including all three field goal attempts in the final period, finishing with 15 points to go with seven boards, a pair of assists and a +15 number in his 32 minutes of work. 

After notching 35 points in their Friday night loss, Jaylen Brown paced the Celtics with 30 on Wednesday. Jayson Tatum tallied a double-double with 26 points and 12 boards and Al Horford doubled-up himself with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

FEAT. HIGHLIGHT: Darius Garland Feed to Donovan Mitchell in Overtime

Darius Garland feed to Donovan Mitchell dunk in overtime – taking the score to 112-109 Cavs with minutes to go.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics hit the Cavs hard to start the final quarter – scoring the first 12 points of the period and turning Cleveland’s seven-point lead into a five-point deficit over a four-minute stretch.

BY THE NUMBERS

.318, .222, .375 … combined shooting percentage from the floor (7-of-22), from beyond the arc (2-of-9) and from the line (3-of-8) that the Cavaliers have allowed defensively in three overtime sessions this year, forcing seven turnovers.

Conversely, the Wine and Gold are shooting a combined .481 percent (13-of-27) from the floor, .363 from deep (4-of-11) and a perfect mark from the stripe (9-of-9), committing four total miscues.  

QUOTABLE

Evan Mobley, on teammate Darius Garland after Wednesday’s win (and after his first full game with Garland this season) …

”He creates so much for our team – his shot-making, his playmaking. Everything. And on top of that we have Donovan. We have a very strong backcourt and a very strong frontcourt, so we’re just going to keep building off that and get reps with each other and get our chemistry right.”

CALLS OF THE GAME

Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network’s Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 98.1.

UP NEXT

After taking both home contests this week, the Wine and Gold take their six-game win streak on the road – traveling to Motown for a Friday night matchup with the Pistons. 

From there, the squad heads West for a Tinseltown back-to-back on Sunday and Monday – facing off against LeBron and the Lakers followed by a meeting with Tyronn Lue’s Clips. On Wednesday night, it’s a matchup against De’Aaron Fox and the Kings before wrapping up with a Friday night meeting with the World Champs in San Francisco.