10 takeaways from the Celtics’ collapse against the Cavaliers

#1 – Hunting a DPOY candidate

In the press conference before the game, Kenny Atkinson said he expected Darius Garland to be hunted, as the Celtics are known for creating mismatches. However, the Celtics didn’t hunt Darius Garland. Instead, they went after one of the best defensive players in the NBA, Evan Mobley.

On the first play, the Celtics forced a switch and created a one-on-one situation for Jaylen Brown against Evan Mobley. The young big man’s length could bother a drive, but he struggles when it comes to contesting pull-up threes.

At first, I thought it was just random—but the Celtics kept going at Evan Mobley. They knew the Cavaliers would try their best to protect the paint vicariously with Jarrett Allen roaming near the rim. So instead of hunting Darius Garland for driving lanes, they hunted Evan Mobley for easier pull-ups.

After that, they went after Jarrett Allen with Jayson Tatum and exposed his lack of lateral mobility and speed. Nonetheless, there’s no shame in not being able to keep up with Jayson Tatum. The All-NBA First Team forward is a walking mismatch machine, and not many players can stop him one-on-one.

At the end of the game, when Jarrett Allen was out, they went back to hunting Darius Garland, but it wasn’t enough to get the win in the clutch.

2 – Jayson and Jaylen dominated

The Celtics duo took 61 of the team’s 89 shot attempts and scored 83 points. At the start, the game plan wasn’t to be that aggressive, but Jaylen and Jayson were invited to do so by the Cavaliers’ defense.

As the Cavaliers did a great job of limiting switches as much as possible and decided to keep it a one-on-one situation when mismatches occurred, the Jays had no choice but to dominate and take those shots.

#3 – Empty side offense without JT

One of the Celtics’ biggest challenges is keeping the offense flowing without Jayson Tatum on the floor. To do so, they used empty-side actions with Derrick White and Al Horford in the first half, for example.

With these actions, the Celtics give themselves a better chance to hunt mismatches or create gaps since strong-side help isn’t available. Following the screening action between Derrick White and Al Horford, the Celtics can evaluate the Cavaliers’ reaction and adjust accordingly.

Mismatches often create gravity, and if that happens, it opens the corner. If nothing develops, they can run a second action rather because they did wait too long to get into the first empty-side action.

The offense was functioning well even with Jayson Tatum off the floor… until the Cavs switched to a zone defense.

#4 – Celtics against the zone defense

In the last game against the Cavaliers, we already noted in the 10 Takeaways that Cleveland used a zone defense. Back then, Jrue Holiday was often positioned in the middle of the court near the free-throw line to disrupt passing lanes—and it worked well.

Last night, the Cavaliers’ zone did a much better job of limiting open shots for the Celtics. Since Jaylen and Jayson were creating a lot from isolation, it was a smart way to take that offensive option away. When I asked Joe Mazzulla about it, he said he knew they would try the zone (sorry in advance for my french accent):

The Celtics didn’t overreact to the defensive zone and tried to push the pace. As Joe Mazzulla says, the offensive game plan against a zone depends on whether it follows a make or a miss—because after a miss, the defense doesn’t have time to set up the zone properly.

Nonetheless, the Celtics struggled against the zone last night, and the absence of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis didn’t help. Those two players can operate in the middle of the zone and force the defense to collapse—something the Celtics failed to do without them.

#5 – No layups, no problem?

At the end of the first half, the Celtics had attempted just one shot at the rim but were leading by 10 points. Thanks to a hot start on jump shots, Boston scored 74 points in the first 24 minutes. They made 14 of their 24 three-point attempts, making it nearly impossible for the Cavaliers to keep up.

However, the three-pointers disappeared in the second half. The Celtics attempted only 13 threes in the last 24 minutes—far from their 24 triples in the first half. The Cavs brought more intensity on switches and took up more space with their defensive zone, as mentioned earlier.

They attacked the rim more in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to compensate for their cooling three-point shooting. As mid-range shots and floaters became more contested with the zone defense, the Celtics ended up scoring just 42 points in the last 24 minutes.

#6 – Cavaliers’ small ball

For one-third of the fourth quarter, Cleveland played without Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley—quite unexpected given how important they are to the Cavaliers’ defense. Nonetheless, Kenny Atkinson decided to go small to improve defensive movement and create better spacing on offense.

As the Celtics were constantly targeting Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers took that option away while improving their spacing. This adjustment came with a shift in defensive strategy, as the Cavs turned to a zone and became more aggressive on the ball, even using some double teams.

#7 – Bench minutes

The Cleveland Cavaliers are deep—and this game was a reminder. With Ty Jerome’s unstoppable offense, Dean Wade’s versatile defense, De’Andre Hunter’s individual scoring ability, and Sam Merrill’s shooting, the Cavs can add a great set of complementary skills around their core four stars.

While the Cavaliers’ bench helped them stay competitive early on, the Celtics’ second unit was limited. Only Payton Pritchard scored off the bench, while Torey Craig and Drew Peterson played just a few seconds. Luke Kornet brought energy on the offensive glass and rim protection, but it wasn’t enough to counter Cleveland’s depth.

#8 – Sam Hauser hunt

Both teams engaged in a hunting session last night. While the Celtics attacked Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers targeted Sam Hauser. The sharpshooter couldn’t keep up with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland’s speed. Since the Celtics willingly switch on almost every screen, the Cavaliers simply sent whoever Hauser was defending into action.

Still, I wonder why players sometimes switch so easily. In the example above, there was no real need to switch—the action is slow and far from the three-point line. Yet, Hauser switches onto Donovan Mitchell and gets attacked again. Everyone in the building knew what was coming, yet they kept switching, leaving Hauser on an island.

#9 – Evan Mobley’s offense in the fourth

To start the fourth quarter, the Cavs built their offense around Evan Mobley. They knew the Celtics wouldn’t defend him beyond the three-point line, so they drew up a play to get him a clean look from deep.

They also sought good post-up positions to exploit his size against Celtics guards. Despite being skinny, he can put pressure on the rim when posting up a smaller defender. And the Celtics can’t send too much help—Mobley will find the open shooter.

With the offense running through him, the Cavs took the lead early in the fourth and ultimately secured the win.

#10 – I would like seven of these, please

That’s it—the Celtics and Cavaliers have played their four regular-season matchups, splitting the series 2-2. Now, we wait and hope these two elite teams meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.