Jayson Tatum #0 appears in the Boston Celtics’ victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Conference semifinals
Jason Miller
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A stellar duel this Saturday between Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell resulted in a 106-93 victory for the Boston Celtics over the Cleveland Cavaliers, to lead the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-1.
Tatum celebrated on a night in which he scored 33 points, the same score as his rival Mitchell.
Boston shot 51% (41/80) from the field with Tatum being the leading scorer, adding 13 rebounds and six assists, Jaylen Brown added 28 points and nine rebounds.
During the Playoffs, the Celtics’ success has not only been through their two main figures, they have always needed an ‘ace up their sleeve’ and tonight it was Jrue Holiday with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Holiday, 33, scored on seven of his 10 attempts from the field, including three triples for the Celtics, who were out for the fourth game due to an injury to Kristaps Porzingis.
In the first series of the Playoffs against the Miami Heat, Boston lost the second game and then went on a streak of three consecutive victories to advance to the semifinals.
With a stupendous defensive performance limiting the ‘Cavs’ to 20 points in the second quarter and 21 in the third, Boston regained the sensations that took it to first place in the East in the regular season.
Cleveland was down by up to 23 points in the third quarter and could not recover despite 33 points, six rebounds and three assists from its main figure, Donovan Mitchell.
Evan Mobley was the second best scorer with 17 points, followed by Darius Garland and Caris LeVert with 15, the Cavaliers shot 43% from the field (36/84).
In three games of the series, the losing team has not surpassed the 100-point mark, the fourth game will be played this Monday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
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