Celtics 125, Cleveland 105

 

Woo-hoo! Back-to-back wins (after opening the season with three straight losses) and the Celtics finally have the kind of game we fans have been waiting for all of this short season. 

Mr. Brown drops 30 and Mr. White hits 19. Sam Hauser has a career game with 21 points off the bench including 7 of 13 shooting on threes; he was 4-4 on threes at the end of the first period. Three Celtics had double doubles: Josh Minott (11 points and 15 rebounds), Neemias Queta (10 points and 13 rebounds), and Payton Pritchard (10 points and 10 assists). Anfernee Simons had 14 points and was four-of-six on three-point shooting.

The game was tied at 57 with 3:34 left in the first half until Mr. Brown made a 27-foot three-pointer from the left wing assisted by Queta. That shot seemed to trigger an 18-3 Celtics run with Cleveland's only points coming from free throws, and the first half ended with a 15-point Celtic lead, 75-60.

The Celtics hit the 100-point milestone early in the fourth (11:18) and held on to finish the game up by 20, 125-105  

Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell went four-of four on three in the first quarter, but was held to three points in the second and didn't score at all in the second half.  Defensively, the Celtics finished the evening with 42 rebounds, 11 on offense, to the Cavs' 53 and 18. If we continue to improve on rebounding, this team could reach its true potential.        

I told you so: after Tuesday's first win of the season, I said that it finally had all come together, and there'd be nothing but net, threes dropping like rain, from here on in. Looks like I was correct.

The Celtics are off to Philadelphia next for a Halloween-night game against the 76ers (4-0),  who beat us 117-116 last week in the season opener. Tomorrow's game will be a good barometer by which to judge the C's improvement since the start of the season.