8 Takeaways from Cavs 109-98 loss to Celtics: It’s a make-or-miss leag

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t overcome an awful 10-point second quarter as they fell to the Boston Celtics 109-98.

Boston is a bad matchup for Cleveland. They can press the Cavs in a lot of the areas they struggle with most on both ends of the floor.

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Offensively, they can spread the Cavs’ defense out and force them to guard one-on-one. This isn’t ideal for a team that has struggled with point-of-attack defense all season. And if the backside help comes, the Celtics have capable enough playmakers to find the open man and make them pay with their three-point shooting.

Defensively, they stay out of rotation due to their willingness to switch everything. They trust each player on the court to hold their own in any matchup, and they mostly do. This allows them to limit the amount of disruption an off-ball shooter like Sam Merrill can cause or the effectiveness of the pick-and-roll because they’re okay with giving up mismatches if it means slowing down the offense’s ball movement.

The problems this can cause the Cavs came through, particularly in the second quarter when the game got away from them.

The Cavs lost this game in the second quarter. They mustered just 10 points, went 0-14 from three, and just 4-25 from the field.

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“I think that first half man, it was really just about shots,” Donovan Mitchell said.

The Cavs generated good looks in the second quarter that simply didn’t fall. Below is a clip of eight threes that were either quality attempts or, at the very least, open enough that you’re okay with the shot in a vacuum.

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“If we get a couple shots to fall, layups, threes, anything…it’s a different ballgame,” James Harden said. “It’s draining when you feel like you’re getting easy looks and they’re not going, but it’s part of the game.”

Missing threes in the second quarter wasn’t an issue for the Cavs; their inability to find other ways to score was.

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