Game 4 will take place in Cleveland on Monday at 7 p.m.
The Celtics needed a big game from their stars on Saturday, and they got one to reclaim a 2-1 series lead with a 106-93 Game 3 victory over the Cavaliers.
Here are the takeaways.
1. If nothing else, Saturday was a reminder that the playoffs are hard.
The Celtics led by as many as 23 in the third quarter. The Cavaliers walked that lead down, but it never got much closer than nine or 10 the rest of the way.
And still, the Celtics looked winded after a highly physical game as the clock ran out in the fourth. Saturday’s win was not comfortable. Donovan Mitchell gives the Celtics everything they can handle. Missing Kristaps Porzingis is a big deal.
The Celtics can still beat the Cavaliers in five games — Monday’s game suddenly looms large as a pivotal contest, to use one of sports’ most overused Game-4 phrases. With a win, the Celtics would have a chance to close the Cavaliers out in Game 5 at home.
But the Cavaliers, as Mazzulla has noted on several occasions, are a good team. It won’t be easy.
2. Jayson Tatum scored 33 points on 11-for-25 shooting. He still couldn’t find the range from behind the arc (2-for-8 after making his first two in a row), but he had a few spectacular plays including a nice lob to Luke Kornet in transition as well as a picture-perfect iso jumper over Max Strus late in the fourth.
Tatum took a lot of heat after the Celtics’ Game 2 loss, but he and Brown answered the avalanche of criticism with complete overall performances. Tatum added 13 rebounds and six assists on Saturday, while Brown scored a hyper-efficient 28 points on 13-for-17 shooting to go with nine rebounds and three assists.
“I respect you guys’ job,” Tatum told reporters after Saturday’s game. “I respect the guys on TV. I don’t always agree with the things that they say. When they’re fair, and they take emotion out of it, whatever way they’re leaning towards, and they’re fair, I respect it. I understand what the media has brought to our game, and more eyes, and more attention, and how everybody has benefited from that.
