Celtics lose 22-point lead in 4th, 11-game win streak ends

CLEVELAND — For 3 quarters Tuesday evening, the Boston Celtics had been in cruise management.

Then, within the blink of a watch, their 22-point, fourth-quarter lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers was gone. After a Jayson Tatum fadeaway missed lengthy, and the Cavaliers efficiently overturned a foul known as on Darius Garland on the play, Cleveland emerged with a shocking 105-104 victory, snapping Boston’s league-leading 11-game profitable streak.

“I believe we’re a a lot better crew than we confirmed at the moment,” Jaylen Brown stated afterward. “Right this moment was only a mentality loss.

“We had the sport after which we obtained snug, so it was extra of a mindset factor than X’s and O’s. We gotta simply be the extra disciplined, the extra militant crew. We weren’t that. Often we’re that, and we felt that at the moment and I believe that is the rationale why they had been in a position to get again into the sport.

“Our mindset was a bit of bit too lax, and we had been too careless with the ball. We weren’t intentional on offense. We type of let guys get to tendencies that we had been supposed to remove. We gave up offensive rebounds, stuff that every one simply comes with mindset.”

For a lot of the sport, it did not appear to be any of these issues had been going to matter. Boston hit 50% of its triples by the primary three quarters, It had a cushty 16-point lead heading into the fourth — one which ballooned to 22 factors when Tatum made a putback layup for a 93-71 lead with 9 minutes to go — and was taking part in a Cleveland crew that entered the sport lacking Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus with knee points and misplaced Evan Mobley to an ankle sprain late within the third.

Then the fourth quarter occurred. Boston went 0-for-8 from deep, whereas Cavaliers ahead Dean Wade went 5-for-5 from deep and 7-for-7 from the sector — together with a important tip dunk with 19.1 seconds to go off a missed shot by Garland — as he outscored the Celtics 20-17 within the closing body.

“Rank’s fairly excessive,” Wade stated with a smile when requested the place that quarter stood amongst his private accomplishments. “Fairly excessive. … It felt good. The rim regarded actually large.”

That offensive rebound was one thing Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla introduced up a number of instances in his postgame media session, together with a number of different psychological errors and unforced errors Boston made down the stretch.

“We have given up offensive rebounds on the finish of the shot clock after we had been profitable,” Mazzulla stated. “I believe that simply, in conditions like this, they simply turn into a bit of bit extra heightened and a bit of bit extra consideration to element to them. However we have had take fouls within the backcourt earlier than that did not harm us as a result of [it was a] totally different time of the sport. And they also’re the identical conditions which were occurring. They’re simply in additional of a important time. So it is a good heightened consciousness to them.”

Then there was the ultimate play of the sport, after Wade’s tip dunk. Mazzulla initially did not name timeout, and Tatum introduced the ball into the frontcourt, then had Derrick White set a choose for him to get the a lot smaller Garland switched onto him, earlier than settling for a tough stepback jumper on the fitting facet of the lane that missed lengthy.

It regarded like Tatum (15-for-46 in clutch conditions this season) could be bailed out when Garland was known as for a foul. However Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff challenged the decision and it was overturned, with crew chief Zach Zarba later telling a pool reporter that the contact made by Garland on Tatum’s leg was as a result of Tatum kicked it out, and thus it was inadvertent contact.

“I knew the leg kick was type of in play,” Garland stated. “My shin nonetheless type of hurts from it, so I am glad it was overturned.”

Tatum had a distinct interpretation, although he additionally conceded he ought to have gotten right into a play quicker, as a substitute of ready for a closing shot. Mazzulla stated he tried to name timeout with slightly below 5 seconds remaining however that the referees by no means noticed it.

“It was unlucky,” Tatum, who went 1-for-9 within the quarter, stated of the ultimate possession. “I assumed I obtained fouled … however they at all times say the sport is not gained or misplaced on the final play. There’s a number of issues that we did not do effectively in that fourth quarter that put us in that place.”

He was not flawed. Boston’s eight misses and not using a make from 3 within the fourth tied for probably the most and not using a make in 1 / 4 by the Celtics this season, and it was solely the fourth time this season Boston did not make a 3 in 1 / 4. The 17 factors scored had been the crew’s fewest in a fourth quarter this season, and the Celtics had been outscored by 17 — their worst level differential in a fourth quarter this season.

After seeing their league-leading win streak snapped, and heading into a possible NBA Finals preview in opposition to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday evening, Brown stated it was vital to view this as a lesson in what to not do.

“Right this moment issues,” Brown stated. “Whether or not all people desires to throw it away or not, we gotta have a look at the movie and handle some stuff, as a result of that issues. Your habits are every little thing. Your mentality is every little thing. And each recreation, you’ll be able to’t waste no possessions, you’ll be able to’t waste no time on the market on the ground.

“So, at the moment issues. We have to have a look at that.”