Mitchell has 33 points, but Cavaliers can’t contain Tatum and Brown in Game 3 loss to Celtics

CLEVELAND — Leaning in a chair in front of his corner closet, Donovan Mitchell’s white leggings were torn and there was a stain of blood near his right knee.

Your healthy knee.

Mitchell scored 33 points in another stellar performance, but Cleveland’s All-Star guard didn’t have enough help as the Cavaliers were defeated by the Boston Celtics, who won Game 3 106-93 on Saturday night to take the lead by 2-1. the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Mitchell appeared to aggravate a left knee injury in the fourth quarter and didn’t even fall to the ground to finish. With the Celtics up by 13, he went straight to the locker room for treatment for Monday’s Game 4, less than 48 hours away.

The Cavs were unable to repeat their strong Game 2 performance in Boston and were doomed at home by a slow start to the third quarter, when the Celtics scored the first 14 points to take a 23-point lead.

“There’s a lot of things we could have done better,” Mitchell said, looking at the scoreboard. “We had 36 3-pointers (attempts) so offensively we need to shoot a little better. Defensively, we held them to 106, but it looked crazier because of those spurts.”

Jayson Tatum (33) and Jaylen Brown (28) combined for 61 points to lead the Celtics, who made 13 3-pointers after shooting just 8 of 35 from 3 in Game 2.

Mitchell tried to counter Tatum and Brown by hitting 7 of 12 3-point shots. But he was the only Cleveland player showing any range, as the rest of the Cavs went a combined 5-of-24 from beyond the arc.

Evan Mobley scored 17 points, but the Celtics did a much better job containing him than they did in Game 2. Boston traded bigger defenders for the 22-year-old, who is having to handle center duties with Jarrett Allen still suffering from a back injury. rib.

Darius Garland was just 6 of 15 shooting from the floor, missing some plays he wishes he had back.

Cleveland’s biggest problem was their inability to stop Tatum and Brown when it mattered most.

“They’re going to get shots,” Garland said. “It’s their two guys. They’re going to make shots, so try to do what we can and make it hard for them to get to the rim or make them hit hard twos.

For the most part, the Cavs did that. But after Cleveland cut Boston’s lead to nine in the fourth quarter, Tatum and Brown took turns hitting big shots.

“You have to make things difficult, and I thought we did that,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said. “I thought they both landed some really tough shots. They came into iso and made a mid-range comeback, contested two where our guys challenged them. They do it because they are elite offensive players.”

The Cavs had success with a smaller lineup in the second half, with Dean Wade returning after missing two months with a knee injury.

Wade hit his first 3-pointer and played well enough in 16 minutes to be able to advance further.

“I thought he was really good in his minutes, not playing basketball for eight weeks, having the confidence to come in and the first shot was catch and shoot,” Bickerstaff said of Wade. “That was a good sign for him. He did a great job of being who he is, protecting multiple positions defensively and helping us keep our offense moving.”

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