Four takeaways as Celtics lose to Cavs 132-123 after overtime collapse

BOSTON — With two of their two frontcourt players, the Celtics had their hands full on Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston blew a 15-point second half lead after an ugly fourth quarter, and Donovan Mitchell (41 points) and Caris LeVert (41 points) took over during overtime to lead the visitors to a 132-123 win.

Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics for the fifth consecutive game with 32 points and Jaylen Brown added 32 points but the duo saw themselves outdueled by the Cavs backcourt in a seesaw battle of hot East squads.

Cleveland led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter after a red-hot shooting start from LeVert. However, Boston rallied for the remainder of the first half, using a 56-29 run to take a 13-point halftime lead while shooting 66 percent from the field in the opening 24 minutes.

Boston’s offense began to sputter though in the third quarter as they opted for bigger lineups, helping the visitors rally from the 13-point deficit to tie up the game at 90 at the two-minute mark of the third quarter and once again from a seven-point fourth quarter deficit before forcing overtime. From there, big buckets from Mitchell and LeVert were too much for the hosts to overcome.

The Celtics are back in action at the TD Garden Sunday night as they host Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards at 6 p.m. ET.

Here are four takeaways from Boston’s performance against the Cavs on Friday night:

Officials wouldn’t stop blowing their whistles: There were plenty of points to go around in the first quarter but a lot of the scoring on both sides was the byproduct of an absurd number of whistles. The Celtics and Cavs committed 20 total fouls in the first quarter alone, leading to 12 free throw attempts for each team in the frame. Both teams were clearly trying to establish a better level of physicality but the officials attempt at keeping the game called tight was to their detriment as one coach pled to an official at one point to simply ‘let them pay’ amid a revolving door to the free throw line. Things improved a little bit in the second quarter (10 fouls total called) but the flow of the game really was impacted early on by the constant whistle, causing the Celtics to maneuver lineups as Blake Griffin, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown all dealt with early foul trouble. When all was said and done, the two teams combined for 55 fouls, the most called in a Celtics game this season.

Marcus Smart’s shooting woes loom large: The Celtics only mustered 39 second half points before the Cavs forced overtime on Friday night and a big reason for those struggles came to Smart lack of marksmanship from the point guard. Smart opened the game 1-of-8 from the field and ultimately went 3-of-15 on the night including 2-of-9 from beyond the arc as the Cavs routinely let him fire away from long distance in order to double Boston’s top scorers. Unless Smart makes defenses pay more, the Celtics may be better served going with alternative offensive options down the stretch.

Jayson Tatum starts strong but struggles late: The All-Star has arguably been the best player in the NBA this season through the first two weeks of the regular season and he added to his case on Friday night at TD Garden. Tatum erupted for 24 of his points in the first half, going 7-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range to help lead Boston to a sensational 75-point performance over the opening two frames. However, he faded in the second half, going just 4-of-13 from the field including an airball on the final play of regulation, opening the door for the Cavs rally.

Luke Kornet starts second half and offense slows down: Joe Mazzulla made one of his first big in-game adjustments out of halftime despite building a double digit lead. After watching the Cavs have their way against Boston’s starters to begin the first quarter, Mazzulla elected to go with the double big lineup to combat Cleveland’s frontline of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Kornet provided a steadier rim presence with his length than Al Horford, helping easy the burden on Boston’s wings when it came to rebounding. However, the Celtics offense sputtered a bit with him on the floor, mustering just 11 points in the first seven minutes of the period. It’s easy to see why the lineup made sense against a team like Cleveland but the offensive upsides with the small group may outweigh the pros of the double bigs if this stint was any indication.

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