Now that the Celtics are back in front, some of the pressure is off them as we head into Game 4 on Monday night. Jayson Tatum finally woke up from his postseason nap, delivering a 33-point, 13 rebound performance, his highest scoring game of the Playoffs so far. Jaylen Brown also stepped up with 28 points and 9 boards on an efficient 13-for-17 shooting. The Celtics are hard to beat when their two best players are performing like that, regardless if they have Kristaps Porzingis available or not. Game 4 will be a lot tougher than the previous game, but this team has been battle tested so many time that I am not worried for them at all here. The fact that the Cavaliers are missing their defensive anchor makes their life all that much easier, in Game 3 the Cs scored almost half of their points inside the paint.
Getting outrebounded 44-35 ultimately decided the game in Boston’s favor on Saturday night. Once more we learned that Evan Mobley just isn’t a player that can give you a double-double on a nightly basis, he finished with just 8 rebounds in 37 minutes played. Donovan Mitchell did his part with the standard 33 points, his 4th 30+ point performance in 5 postseason games. But, unless the likes of Darius Garland and Max Strus give the Cavaliers double-digit points I’m afraid this game will be over soon. Cleveland has covered the spread only twice in 8 games, it’s hard to win games when you’re as offensively limited as they are and playing the best team in the NBA.
