Boston (4) vs Cleveland (5)

 

The Tale of the Tape

 

In this first round match up we have the 4 seed Boston Celtics hosting the 5 seed Cleveland Cavaliers.  Both young and upcoming teams are coming off extremely positive seasons, that showed immense growth from their players.  In this young star-studded match up, we see the likes of Jayson Tatum, Darius Garland and RJ Barret representing the Celtics going against Jalen Brunson, Scottie Barnes, DeAndre Ayton and Kristaps Porzingis for the Cavaliers.

 

 

 

Game 1: Boston Win 122 – 104

 

As we head into this series, we see Boston being favoured by the punters, holding 63% of the predictions.  Boston come out guns blazing in the first Q to take a 31 – 22 lead into the quarter break.  The second Q saw much of the same with Boston taking the Q 31 – 27 and heading into the half time break with a 62-49 lead.  The Cavaliers rallied and took Q3 28-25, before Boston proved too much in Q4 closing the game out with a 35 – 27 quarter.

Boston’s dynamic duo combined for a total of 54 points on 22 – 41 shooting.

 

Notable Box Scores:

Jayson Tatum: 28/6/7 with 3 steals

Darius Garland: 26/3/9

DeAndre Ayton: 25/18 and 2 blocks

Jalen Brunson: 20/10

 

Game 2: Boston Win 135 – 128

Game 2 brings a much closer contest between the two squads, the star point guards dictated the pace of this game, Brunson going for 39 on 17-26 shooting and Garland going for 40 on 16-30 shooting.   This impressive efficient display from the guards was a delight for the fans.  Jayson Tatum was perfect from 3 in this game going 5-5, something only NBA Tatum can dream about. 

 

Notable Box Scores:

Darius Garland: 40/2/5

Jayson Tatum: 34/9/3

Jalen Brunson: 39/2/7

DeAndre Ayton: 20/18/5

 

Game 3: Cleveland win 130 – 126

In game 3 we are treated to another close contest; this time the cavaliers get the edge over the Celtics to take their first game of the series.  Jalen Brunson once again leads the Cavaliers in scoring good for 29 points on an efficient 10-19 shooting, while also swinging the rock for 14 assists.  Darius Garland again leads all scorers with 35 points.  Points in the paint were key for Cleveland in this game, winning the battle of the painted area 76 – 56.  Kristaps Porzingis was instrumental in Cleveland getting the W, he managed to swat 3 shots while protecting the rim.  We witnessed a big night from RJ Barret, reaching a series high of 29 points, although it wasn’t enough.

 

Notable Box Scores:

Jalen Brunson: 29/14

Kristaps Porzingis: 22/9 with 3 blocks

 

Darius Garland: 35/3/4

RJ Barrett: 29/7/3

 

Game 4: Cleveland Win 130 – 124

In Game 4 we return to Cleveland for their second home game of the series.  Josh Hart was a MASSIVE factor in this game, ripping down an impressive 16 rebounds from 2 guard spot.  We see another great display from Cleveland’s Allstar point guard Jalen Brunson who had 34 points in this game.  Boston put up a good contest, after 3 quarters they held the lead, unfortunately though, Jayson Tatum going 9 – 23 from the floor on the way to 25 points wasn’t going to be enough for the Celtics. Series tied 2-2

 

Notable Box Scores:

Jalen Brunson: 34/5/3

Josh Hart: 14/16/7

 

Darius Garland: 25/4/11

 

Game 5: Boston win 136 – 122

Game 5 sees the series return to TD Garden with a spirited home crowd.  The Celtics went wire to wire for the 14-point win in game 5.  GM Toby slides Turkish big man Alperen Sengun into the starting unit for a pivotal game 5 match up, pushing big man James Wiseman to the bench unit.  Boston’s bench had an impressive showing in this game, winning the bench point battle 37 – 28.  The Celtics also won the PIP battle 90 – 70, which I didn’t know they could do!  Jalen Brunson and DeAndre Ayton gave it their all in this game but ultimately it was not enough to top a spirited Boston performance.

Boston lead 3-1

 

Notable Box Scores:

Jayson Tatum: 32/9/5

Darius Garland: 30/6/6

 

Jalen Brunson: 31/4/8

DeAndra Ayton: 22/19 and 2 blocks

 

Game 6: Boston win 137 – 113

For the first potential close out game of the series we head back to Cleveland!  Boston could very clearly smell blood in the water and put their foot on Cleveland’s necks right from the get-go taking the first Q 40 – 33.  The Cavaliers answered in the second and rallied for a 36 – 18 Q, Cleveland lead 69 – 58 at the half time break.  Unfortunately, that was the end of the run for Cleveland with Boston taking Q3 37 – 22 and finishing them off in Q4 42 – 22.  Jayson Tatum leads all scorers with 33 points while Darius Garland double doubles 27 point and 10 assists.  Jalen Brunson could only muster 8 points in for the cavaliers in this contest.

 

Notable Box Scores:

Jayson Tatum: 33 points on 13 – 25

Darius Garland: 27/10

 

DeAndre Ayton 24/17

Kristaps Porzingis 18pts & 3 blocks.

 

Series Top Performers:

 

Boston Celtics:

Darius Garland – 30.5ppg, 7.5apg

Jayson Tatum – 29.5ppg, 7rpg

 

Cleveland Cavaliers:

Jalen Brunson – 26.8ppg, 8.2apg

DeAndre Ayton - 21.3pp, 15.5rpg

 

Series Conclusion:

Congratulations to GM Toby and the Boston Celtics who will now move on to face the Washington Wizards in the second round, after a great showing from his Celtics in round one to send the Cleveland Cavaliers and GM Shams packing.

 

GM Shams, you had a fantastic season and added value at every turn, very excited to see the Cavaliers come opening night next season!  Happy Trading.