BOSTON, MA--- The Cavs and Celtics battelled it out Wednesday night at TD Garden in a game with a playoff atmosphere in the air. The Celtics were able to defeat the Cavs 117-113. The Celtics showed off why they have 6 different players with at least 100 made 3 pointers on the season with a lights-out performance from behind the arc.
The Celtics had 5 players with 100+ made 3s this season, but Sam Hauser would join in and be the 6th tonight, Hauser would finish with 6 points on a 2-4 night from behind the arc. He joins the 100+ made club with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Malcom Brogdon, Derrick White, and Al Horford, who had a stellar shooting performance tonight, scoring his season high 23 points on a 8-10 FG night shooting 6-8 from behind the arc. The first half was a back an forth fight, the Cavs and Celtics' first half stats were almost identical. The Cavs shot 44% from the field compared to Boston's 50%, made 5 of their 13 3 point attempts next to Boston's 7 of 17 made, the Cavs dished out 12 assists while the Celtics dished out 14, and the Cavs out scored Boston in the paint 30-24.
I mentioned Al Horford's stats in the previous paragraph, but the stats truly don't show how Horford was all over the floor, when the Cavs were helping each other out on defense, Horford seemed to be in the right place at the right time all night long, the Cavs simply couldn't keep up with him. The Celtics seemingly ran away with the game in the second half, shooting 50% from behind the arc for the game. But the Cavs wouldn't go down quietly, leading the way was Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, cutting the lead down to 5 with under 2 minutes to go in the game. Mitchell scored 44 points, the 7th time this season "Spida" scored 40+ points this season. Garland led the charge with some 3 pointers late that quickly ate away at the deficit. Garland scored 29 points, shot 5-9 from behind the arc and dished out 9 assists.
The Cavs will get 2 days rest before taking on The Detroit Pistons at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, then playing the Celtics again in Cleveland on Monday. The Cavs and Pistons tip off at 7:30 on Saturday and you can hear the game on WTAM 1100 AM, 106.9 FM, the free iHeartRadio app, or HERE