The young, playoff-hungry Boston Celtics blitzed the Cleveland Cavs from the opening whistle, staking themselves to a 28-17 lead after 12 minutes at the Quicken Loans Arena. With the rest of the East's bubble teams hot on the trail of the current #7 seed (and current projected 1st-round opponent of the Cavs) in the East, the upstart Celtics fought tooth and nail to hold off an overwhelming Cleveland charge (37 points) in the 3rd quarter.
The Celtics would do just that in the 4th quarter, using solid defense and timely offense to cement a gut-check 99-90 road victory.
Key Stats:
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens once again had his Cinderella Celts working as a well-oiled machine on both ends of the floor on Friday, as Boston outassisted the iso-heavy Cavs by a double-digit margin in the first half to get the offense humming before turning up the defensive intensity and limiting Cleveland to a shocking 13 points in the 4th.
Boston MVPs:
It was a team effort for Boston through and through, but extra credit goes to Evan Turner (13 assists), Marcus Smart (19 points), and Avery Bradley (15 points, 4 assists) for taking Cleveland's best punch in the 3rd quarter and counter-punching in impressive fashion.
Cleveland MVP:
Kevin Love starred on a night when coach David Blatt limited LeBron James to just 26 minutes, posting a team-high 19 points to go with his six rebounds and four assists.
What’s Next?
Both teams get a travel day off on Saturday before doing battle once again at the TD Garden in Boston on Sunday afternoon.