Celtics go ice cold, blown out by Cavaliers in Game 2: 8 takeaways

The Celtics struggled mightily in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, falling 118-94 to the Cavaliers, who evened the series at 1-1.

Here are the takeaways.

1. As is so often the case when the Celtics lose – and especially when they lose spectacularly – we have to start with the 3-pointers. 

The Celtics were 8-for-35 from behind the arc, which totals 22.9 percent. Before Oshae Brissett hit a garbage-time triple with less than a minute remaining, they were on the verge of recording their worst 3-point shooting performance of the season, and they were 1-for-17 from deep in the second half (Brissett’s three lifted them to a steaming 2-for-18). 

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, shot 13-for-28 from behind the arc (a very solid 46 percent, albeit on a low volume) and 54.7 percent overall. 

In Game 2 against the Heat, the Celtics lost because the other team had an outlier performance from behind the arc.

In Game 2 against the Cavaliers, the Celtics lost because of their own outlier performance. 

“We just didn’t make shots,” Jayson Tatum said. “It’s a make-miss league.”

Mazzulla said he thought the Cavaliers defended the 3-point line better in Game 2, but the Celtics still got good looks.

“I’m sure there were a few of them that we could fight for a better shot or better spacing, but I think for the most part they were okay,” he said. 

Mazzulla added that he needs to go back and watch film to pick out what the Celtics need to do differently in Game 3. However, the starting point – much like the starting point for Game 3 against the Heat – is pretty simple: The 3-point math needs to work in the Celtics’ favor again.

2. Donovan Mitchell played a masterful game, working the Celtics in the pick-and-roll in the first half as a passer before exploding for 23 second-half points including 5-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. 

“He made some tough shots tonight and some tough contested threes,” Jaylen Brown said. “You got to be up, but he’s a basketball player. You got to have a little bit more alertness to him, and we’re just trying to take the challenge. Tonight, he got the best of us, made some tough baskets that allowed him to feel free to get downhill. We’ve just got to keep making it tough.”

Mazzulla said the Cavaliers created space for Mitchell off the ball to get the Celtics off balance before they sent him through his pick-and-roll. 

“We just have to be a little more physical in our off-ball,” Mazzulla said. “He got some of those [threes] by our communication. I think he hit one pick-and-roll one, and the rest of his threes came in just our reads, either miscommunication or body position at times. So we’re just going to have to clean up those technical things.”

Brown called out the Celtics’ defense as a whole.

“Obviously we didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight, but defensively it was an unacceptable performance, and I think that’s where we look at that and I’m the most upset,” Brown said. “Defensively, we gave up 118 points, and on top of that we lost the rebound battle. So we didn’t help ourselves tonight.”

3. A strong case could be made that Jayson Tatum was good in Game 1 despite a quiet night as a scorer, but his Game 2 performance was less good. The Cavaliers largely single-covered him, and while he earned 11 trips to the free-throw line, 10 came in the first half. He finished 7-for-17 from the floor and never appeared to create much separation. 

Tatum – who did make several unselfish plays in the first half – is due for a breakout performance (or three), and when he goes off, the Celtics are very difficult to beat. Some 3-pointers would go a long way toward opening up the paint for his drives, and if he could knock down a few, he might be able to take advantage of harder closeouts.

“I obviously wish I would make more shots, but I’ve been in the league long enough that sometimes you just don’t make them and you just got to still continue to take the right shots,” Tatum said. “And it’ll even out, but not really getting caught up on that. I know how to score the ball.”

Both Tatum and Mazzulla drew attention to the Celtics’ lack of spacing on the offensive end. 

“We didn’t have the right spacing enough on enough possessions,” Tatum said. “I think when we attacked the rim collectively as a group, there was a lot of kick-out opportunities that we missed.”

4. Perhaps predictably on a night when the spacing was bad, Sam Hauser really struggled – both to get open, and to defend Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert on switches. Hauser is a great offensive weapon in his role off the bench, but for him to be productive, both he and the Celtics need to find him more shots.

5. Mazzulla pulled the starters with five minutes remaining, waving the white flag with the Celtics trailing 111-87. 

“I just felt like that was the best thing to do at that particular time,” he said. “We have another game coming up soon.”

A reporter asked if he felt like the starters didn’t have it. 

“I thought that was the best thing to do at that time,” Mazzulla reiterated, adding, “I didn’t think it was that early.”

6. After several deeply impressive performances in a row, Derrick White came crashing back to earth – 3-for-11 from the field and 1-for-8 from behind the arc. Out of all the Celtics’ myriad misses, White’s may have felt the most notable, both because he got a few open looks and because he was so singularly good through the first six games of the playoffs.

7. Xavier Tillman played for the second straight game and was +6 – the only Celtics player outside of the bench mob that was a positive from a plus/minus perspective. 

8. The series now shifts to Cleveland. Game 3 tips off at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. 

“We don’t expect it to be easy,” Tatum said. “These are good teams we’re playing, second round of the playoffs. So this is going to be fun the rest of this series and especially come Saturday. We’ve bounced back plenty of times. We lost, what, 16 games this year? So I like to think that we respond pretty well the few times we do lose.”