In the final seconds of the third quarter Tuesday night, Payton Pritchard corralled a rebound, zigzagged past the logo and launched deep, contested 3-pointer.
As the ball fell through the net, everyone’s hands at TD Garden shot up in unison. On a night where the Celtics controlled the tempo throughout but couldn’t pull away initially, Pritchard’s hoist proved to be the dagger.
The Celtics took a commanding 15-point edge into the fourth, extended it to 22 a few minutes in and cemented a 120-95 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 1. Jaylen Brown led the way with 32 and Derrick White added 25, but it was a balanced performance.