Celtics-Cavs takeaways: Holiday helps C’s pull off tense Game 4 win originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics are one win away from their third consecutive appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It was far from their prettiest performance, but the C’s escaped Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse with a Game 4 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday to take a 3-1 series lead. It was a difficult victory, despite the Cavs playing without their leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, who was discarded with left calf strain.
Boston fell behind 8-2 to open the game, but responded with a 19-2 run and finished the first quarter with seven points. Cleveland stayed close and eventually took the lead early in the third, although their lead was short-lived. The C’s took a 10-point lead into the final frame and survived a late run by the Cavs to pull out a 109-102 victory.
Jayson Tatum (33 points) and Jaylen Brown (27 points) led the Celtics in scoring. Jrue Holiday also scored 16 points while playing his typical tremendous defense.
With Mitchell sidelined, Darius Garland led the Cavs with 30 points. Max Strus had 15 points on 5-of-9 3-point shooting, but it still wasn’t enough to overcome Mitchell’s glaring absence.
The Celtics will look to close out the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on their home floor on Wednesday night. First, here are three takeaways from the Game 4 win.
Another Jrue holiday ‘masterclass’
Jaylen Brown defined Holiday’s stellar Game 3 performance like a “masterclass”. Jayson Tatum called Holiday the “glue” that holds the Celtics together.
Holiday had another masterful performance on both ends of the floor in Game 4. As good as Brown and Tatum were, the veteran guard made the difference.
In the first quarter, Holiday focused on playmaking with four assists and no shot attempts. He changed things up in the second, scoring seven points in the first two minutes of the game and entering halftime with 10.
Holiday filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block in the first half.
Holiday made several clutch plays down the stretch when the Celtics needed him most. On a night when Derrick White (three points, 1-6 FG) wasn’t at his best, the other half of “The Stock Exchange” took care of business.
Holiday finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting (4-8 3-PT), seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block in 43 minutes.
The Jays lead the way
Both Boston stars were excellent for the second consecutive game. Jayson Tatum set the tone, and Jaylen Brown turned in yet another efficient pitching performance to help put the C’s on the brink of an East Final berth.
Tatum picked up where he left off with an impressive 16 points in the first quarter, the most he has scored in any period this postseason and the most he has ever scored in the first quarter of a playoff game. He finished the half with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
Tatum continued to silence your critics with his second consecutive 33-point performance. His excellent night was eerily similar to Game 3.
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Tatum in Game 3: 11-25 FG, 2-8 3-PT, 33 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists
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Tatum in Game 4: 11-25 FG, 2-8 3-PT, 33 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists
According to Celtics stats guru Dick LipeIt’s the second time in Tatum’s career he’s had consecutive 30-point, 10-rebound and five-assist games.
As for Brown, the three-time All-Star remains incredibly efficient on the offensive end. He kept the C’s afloat with nine of the first 13 points in the third quarter and helped seal the victory in the game’s final minutes.
Brown made nine of his 15 shots and seven of his nine free throws to finish with 27 points. He hit a dagger 3-pointer with just over a minute left to extend Boston’s lead to eight.
The Jays combined for 60 of the Celtics’ 109 points. This was the second game in a row with 25 points each and the 15th time the duo has achieved this feat.
Too close for comfort
A win is a win, but make no mistake, there are some issues the C’s will try to resolve before Wednesday’s Game 5 at TD Garden.
Boston’s 10 first-half turnovers resulted in 16 points for Cleveland. Meanwhile, the Cavs dominated in transition, just as they did in their Game 2 win. They shot 11 of 25 from beyond the arc in the first half, with Max Strus responsible for five of those 3s.
The Celtics fought to eliminate the Cavs, even with Mitchell sidelined. Cleveland responded to each of Boston’s runs, including in the fourth quarter when the C’s saw their 15-point lead disappear amid a 12-2 Cavs run.
Fortunately for the C’s, they were able to cut their losses in the second half. This probably saved them from another inexcusable loss.
According to coach Joe Mazzulla, all he had to do was tell his team to “pass to the guys in the green shirts.”
This strategy will be essential to end the series on Wednesday.
