Tuesday’s NBA playoffs scores, takeaways: Celtics’ depth shines in Game 1 win over Cavs

By / / Sports / 3 minutes of reading



By Jared Weiss, Jay King and Joe Vardon

The Boston Celtics easily handled the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Tuesday, even with an off-night for superstar centerpiece Jayson Tatum. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder are currently underway.

Here’s what we saw.

Celtics 120, Cavs 95

Series: Celtics lead 1-0

Game 3: 7 p.m. ET Thursday in Boston (ESPN)

Tatum struggles, but an unexpected hero emerges

The Celtics opening up 20-point leads has become a nightly occurrence this year and that didn’t stop against a team that had all of its playmakers healthy. Miami was just missing a ton of offensive firepower, so it wasn’t a shock to see them fall behind so much in the first round. But with the way the Celtics second unit played in Game 1, Cleveland may be in a similar predicament.

Luke Kornet was huge stepping into the rotation with Kristaps Porziņģis out (four points, 10 rebounds, two blocks). The Cavs will have to take him away from the rim if they are going to score consistently in this series. Tristan Thompson got the backup five minutes instead of Georges Niang, so will Cleveland try to space the floor as much as possible next game? They need to do something to get Darius Garland going, since Donovan Mitchell (33 points) and Evan Mobley (17 points, 13 rebounds) can’t play much better offensively than they did in Game 1.

On the other end of the floor, Joe Mazzulla had the ideal scenario seeing Jayson Tatum struggle to score (18 points on 7-of-19 shooting) while Jaylen Brown and Derrick White were on fire (32 and 25 points, respectively). If there is anyone you can trust to find his way into the series, it’s Tatum. The Celtics want him to pace himself in this series and steadily find his rhythm so that he doesn’t overexert himself and picks up momentum as they inch closer toward the conference finals. — Jared Weiss

Derrick White’s shooting ignites Celtics

During a news conference last week, a reporter asked Derrick White if he had come back to Earth after a big game against the Miami Heat.

“I don’t think I left Earth,” White responded.

Maybe that’s because he has been flying in outer space all along. After averaging 26.3 points per game over the final three games of the first round, White drilled seven 3-point attempts in Game 1 of the second. He finished with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including a 7-for-12 effort from downtown, while allowing Boston to keep a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

Jayson Tatum didn’t have an efficient offensive game. The Celtics defense didn’t always operate at top intensity. Donovan Mitchell went off for 33 points on 12-for-25 shooting. Boston still held a comfortable lead for much of the game largely because White buried outside shot after outside shot. Once a questionable shooter, he now has full confidence – and, based on his performance all season, he should. It will take a mighty defensive effort to slow down the Celtics offense if White can stay in his rocketship for the rest of the postseason. — Jay King

Cavs rightly kept shooting, but shots again weren’t falling





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Avatar of Erika Walls
Erika Walls is a journalist who loves writing about business and finance news. She's been working in the industry for over 15 years, and she's published hundreds of articles on everything from the latest IPO to the hottest new stock pick.

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