The Boston Celtics looked like their old selves again with a 117-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night at TD Garden. Coming off a loss against the New York Knicks on Monday where they shot 9-42 as a team from three, the C's needed momentum as they race against the Milwaukee Bucks to lock up that top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Boston's Jayson Tatum and Cavs' Donovan Mitchell led both teams with 41 and 44 points respectively. Al Horford chipped in for Boston with 23 points and Jaylen Brown was welcomed back into the lineup with 16.
After scoring the most points in All Star Game history and winning All Star Game MVP, Tatum has struggled a little in the first three games post-ASG. After Monday's loss in which he shot 1-9 from three and received his first career ejection, Tatum needed a bounce-back game to keep his potential MVP season alive. In a packed TD Garden, Tatum put on a show.
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Dropping 15 points in the second quarter and 18 in the third, he was the driving force for the Celtics against a playoff Cavaliers team. He flirted with a 40 point triple double finishing with eleven rebounds and eight assists as well. The secret to him breaking out of his recent, little slump? "Not listening to you guys when I play bad," Tatum told NBC Sports Boston. Sounds like a pretty good strategy.
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Besides Tatum's stellar night, Horford and Robert Williams were huge against the Cavs' own front court in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Horford only missed two shots the entire night (8-10) as he had eleven rebounds to go along with his 23 points. Williams was perfect from the field (4-4) as he carved out a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds to go along with two blocks.
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In a game that felt like the playoffs, the Celtics came through in a big way just like they have been doing all season. The win brings the C's to 45-18 on the season which leaves them still a half game behind the Bucks for the number one seed. They will look to continue this momentum against the Brooklyn Nets at home on Friday night at 7:30 pm ET. Cleveland will have a little more time off as they will look to bounce back Saturday night at home against the Detroit Pistons with a 7:30 pm ET tip-off.
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Stay tuned for more coverage of the Boston Celtics as the NBA season winds down and they look to make a deep playoff run!
- W. Monast
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