Celtics defeat the Cavaliers on the road in Game 3 to recover.

The Boston Celtics have had deep postseason runs the last three seasons for three reasons: They have participated in lengthy series, performed well away from home, and suffered at home.

Whether the Celtics can reverse the first two is still up in the air. But the Boston Celtics made sure the third game would go on in their Saturday matinee against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In this best-of-seven series, Boston leads the Cavaliers 2-1 thanks to a masterful defensive effort and strong shooting from studs Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Boston defeated the Cavs 106-93.

Celtics defeat the Cavaliers

 

Based on analysis from ESPN Stats & Information, Boston is 14–14 in its 28 home playoff games over the last three seasons—the most played over a three-year timeframe without having a winning record in NBA history. But the Celtics did make it to the NBA Finals in 2022 and the conference finals the previous season, and they are favorites to go deep into the playoffs this year, in large part due to their 17-7 road record.

 

Following a careless performance in their Game 2 defeat, which Brown referred to as a “unacceptable” defensive showing, the Celtics improved on both ends on Saturday to secure yet another road victory. This is their sixth consecutive postseason triumph since the playoffs of last year.

Tatum and Brown

 

Leading the charge were Tatum and Brown, who finished with 61 points apiece (Tatum with 33 and Brown with 28). The Celtics shot 51% from the field and made 13 of 34 (38%), which was their percentage from 3-point range.

“I think we just need everybody to be on the same page and everybody to come out with the right effort,” Brown stated. “That alone accounts for 85% of the fight. After we go out and play hard, we get on the same page, and the rest will work itself out. We have enough skill in our locker room to defeat opposition teams.

However, we put ourselves in danger when we’re not playing hard and staying on the same page. Therefore, it is important to make sure that, during filming and shootaround before to the game, everyone is spoken to, touched, and informed that, “Hey, we’re not here to play around.”

 

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After owner Sanjiv Goenka was spotted “publicly scolding” KL Rahul, LSG said, “we’re all hurt.”

“We didn’t come to Cleveland for the weather, so let’s go.”

 

The ferocity of Boston’s defense was particularly indicative of this mentality. Donovan Mitchell scored an incredible 33 points, but the Celtics still maintained most of the game control by limiting Cleveland’s other alternatives.

Other than Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who finished with 17 points but was less mobile due to an injury to his left foot and ankle in the third quarter, the Cavaliers scored 43 points overall on 17 of 51 shots, including 5 of 23 from three-point range.

“I just think we didn’t hit the same shots we did [in Game 2],” Mitchell stated. “For us, just finishing is important. I believe we just needed to make a lot of the shots at the rim, which I think we missed a lot of personally. Additionally, although we didn’t shoot poorly overall, we didn’t shoot well from three.

Celtics defeat the Cavaliers on the road in Game 3 to recover.

For the Celtics to have a chance to win this series at home, they will now need to put on another impressive road show in Game 4. Can they prevent making the same mistake as in Game 2 and giving Cleveland another opportunity to get back into the game?

“It’s the playoffs,” Brown declared. “Anything can happen, particularly if you are rendered unconscious. We need to improve on that; we can’t assume that this series will unfold similarly to the previous one. We simply must have the same level of urgency going into Game 4 when it comes to our defensive effort.”

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