The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped Game 5 in Boston 98-113. Certain Cavaliers stepped up and made it competitive, but in the end the Celtics were clearly the more seasoned team. Here’s a look back as the Boston advances past Cleveland in Game 5.
Starting lineup
Caris LeVert joins the injured list, alongside Jarrett Allen (rib) and Donovan Mitchell (hamstring). The Cavaliers starting lineup consisted of Darius Garland, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and Evan Mobley.
Cavalier standouts
By far the best Cavalier tonight was Mobley. Finishing the night with a postseason-career high 33 points, seven rebounds and four assists with two steals and two blocks. Proving he can can effective without Mitchell or Allen on the court, this kind of performance from Mobley shows a promising future for the young forward.
The next best Cavalier, surprisingly, was Marcus Morris Sr, with 25 points. Shooting roughly 77 percent from the floor, with a 83.3 three point percentage, Morris was doing everything in his power to bring down his former team. He also chipped in three rebounds and two steals.
Strus also had a solid overall game, with 12 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. He also had only one turnover, putting out a quality performance.
Garland finished with 11 points with nine assists and two steals. Shooting 23.5 percent from the field, and zero percent on four attempts from deep, Garland struggled tonight. Taking that into consideration, along with him also being one of Cleveland’s top scorers tonight, shows why the Cavaliers weren’t able to take down the Celtics.
Celtic Performances
Of the eight Celtics that played tonight, six of them scored in double digits. The players who didn’t each shot above 50 percent from the field.
The Celtics played like a real contender, while the Cavaliers played like a team still finding their legs. Jayson Taytum scored 25, Al Horford scored 22, Derrick White scored 18, Jrue Holiday scored 13 and Jalen Brown and Payton Pritchard each scored 11.
The Celtics made more shots with a better percentage from both the field and deep. They made more assists and grabbed more rebounds while fouled less, with more fast break points.
By almost all metrics they outplayed the Cavaliers. Based on their okay tonight alone, they deserve to advance in the series.
Takeaways for the Cavaliers
With this loss to the Celtics, the Cavaliers’ season officially comes to a close. They put up a solid fight against one of the the best teams in the league, and did it extremely short-handed. Just like the regular season, Cleveland’s postseason was marred by injury.
For the sake of Mitchell remaining in Cleveland, they at least proved they’re a team with genuine talent and a high ceiling. Even in doing so, they also exposed their need for a better team around him.
This Celtics team has now been in six of the last eight Eastern Conference Finals, so there should be no shame in having been eliminated by them off when they’re fresh off one of the best regular seasons in NBA history.
The next step for the Cavaliers is the NBA Draft, and it’s there that the lath Cleveland will take to retool will begin to take shape. As for now, though, the Cavaliers still made concrete progress off last season and proved that they’re not far off from being serious contenders.
For more NBA and other sports and esports news, you can find The Game Haus on Twitter and Facebook.
Featured photo courtesy of NBA.com
“From Our Haus to Your’s”