Rapid Recap: Celtics snap losing streak by laying waste to Sexland and the Cavs

NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics

After three defeats in a row, the dam finally broke and the Celtics devastated a scrappy Cavaliers squad. The final margin of 141-103 was even further ahead than Boston had been for most of the game: Cleveland’s surging backcourt of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland was utterly ineffectual, as were their other usual stalwarts (Drummond and Nance Jr.).

Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 33 points (plus 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal) but even more remarkably did it in 19 minutes on 65% (13/20) shooting. Kemba Walker and Daniel Theis also had excellent games (21-5-4-3 and 17-6-1-2-2, respectively), while Marcus Smart focused less on scoring and more on playmaking to rack up 12 alongside 9 dimes, 5 steals (!) and a block.

We start our look at how the game flowed with an astute observation by the Riffsman:

https://twitter.com/Riffs_Man/status/1353497490910273536?s=20

The offense was firing on all cylinders against an uncharacteristically shaky Cans defense:

https://twitter.com/efraincarmelo/status/1353500349135544321?s=20

Smart, clearly frustrated after two games where he tried to do it all and couldn’t, was taking a lot of rage out on the Cavs.

That + Brown and Kemba shooting at their typical high level = highest-scoring Celtics quarter so far this season.

“So how was the second quarter going, Liam?” Well…Carsen Edwards was scoring at the rim and canning triples. That should give you a pretty good idea. (Side note: I’ve been pretty mean to Edwards but credit where due for him dropping 18 on efficient shooting. He’s pure Cavs kryptonite!)

The Celtics were anywhere between 15 and 25 points ahead for the vast majority of Q2.

https://twitter.com/Riffs_Man/status/1353508661558177792?s=20

This blowout has me in such a good mood I’m gonna post a Cavs highlight!

(A dozen or so other Celtics bloggers/beat writers had the same idea.)

The domination did not cease in the third quarter.

https://twitter.com/Riffs_Man/status/1353514981522862083?s=20

Interesting quandary below. Gonna say yes because why not?

More importantly, good to see that the Cs weren’t giving up on defense despite their lead ballooning as high as 30 (and sometimes beyond):

 

https://twitter.com/efraincarmelo/status/1353518299225714689?s=20

If you turned off the game at this point—or even earlier—no one could blame you. Not a single starter was on the court for the start of the fourth. (None of them would return.)

But you know who WAS on the floor?

A welcome respite after the last few games.

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