The Champs Did What The Rest Of The NBA Couldn't And Finally Ended The Cavs Undefeated Season

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When it came to handing the Cavs their first loss of the season, 15 teams had tried, and 15 teams had failed. It didn't matter if it was the bottom of the league like PHI or TOR, underachieving supposed contenders like MIL (twice) or NYK or even some pretty damn good teams like GS. 

They all tried, and they all failed.

Sometimes, things need to be left to the true elites. The Champs. Things are all fun and games when you're beating up on the Bulls or Hornets of the world, but it's an entirely different beast when it comes time to face the true best team in the NBA. 

Billed as a measuring stick game, I'd say overall things lived up to the hype, and don't let that final score fool you. It was another night of Tony Brothers bullshit to pull a team getting their teeth kicked in close in the 4th, with the Celts building a lead as high as 21 in this win. The Cavs finally faced a team that can not only punch back, but throw haymakers, and to the Cavs' credit, they took as many on the chin as possible before they were ultimately beaten into submission, so if I were a Cavs fan I wouldn't feel too bad. Plenty of teams are going to fall victim to Mazzulla Ball, there's certainly no shame in it. 

Let's face it, the Boston Celtics are the standard. They are the team everyone measures themselves against and rightfully so. That's part of the gig when you're the Champs. But if anything, last night was a reminder that there are levels to this shit. If you want to win a title, you're not only going to have to beat this team (that will eventually have a 7'2 unicorn back in the lineup) once, you need to do it 4 times. 

There is nothing to sneeze at when it comes to a 15 game winning streak. That's legit as hell and I don't care who you beat along the way. Not losing for basically a month is pretty damn hard. But just like what always happens, the cart was put before the horse. A lot of talk about how the Cavs were now the team to beat, they were the best team in the East, etc.

Please, respect your NBA overlords

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

So last night was a reminder that I think a lot of people needed. This shit still runs through the City Of Champions until further notice. I'm sorry if that offends, but it's the truth. That doesn't mean the Cavs aren't having a great season and can't be a top 3 seed that makes a deep playoff run.

But, much like the rest of the NBA, it was pretty evident that they still struggle to solve problems that the Celtics create for their opponent, whether that's the math portion or the matchup portion. 

What I think would be foolish is to look at this game and conclude that the Cavs are some sort of fraud. That would be very stupid. They should be respected as a legit contender in the East and someone who should be taken seriously. But like I said, there are levels to this and last night served as the reminder that the Cavs still have some work to do.

Now, let's begin.

The Good

- A lot of competition for this coveted top spot, but my heart can only go in one direction and that is in the direction of our beautiful 38 year old center Al Horford. I said it against the Raptors and I'll say it again. Al Horford on 2 days rest is a different kind of special. If you let his legs get that type of rest, this is what happens next

Al is simply the gift that keeps on giving. I know he's probably thinking this is the twilight of his career, but I have bad news for him and his family. I am now demanding at least one more 3 year extension. There will be no retirement, I'm sorry. I'm watching a player that was the best big man on the floor last night in a game that consisted of not one, but two All Star big men. There is so much gas left in Al's tank the idea of him hanging up his shoes shouldn't even be a thought in anyone's head.

Just like we saw in the playoff series last year, watching a rested Al Horford stay in front of Darius Garland on multiple isolations only to repeatedly block his shit off the glass made no sense while also making all the sense in the world. When Al's legs are feeling good, between the defense and the three ball, it's as if we're watching a 27 year old. I'm not sure if it's the matchup or what, but it's not as if last night was some sort of outlier. This is what Al does

When the Celts needed a big 3, Al made it. When they needed a big stop defensively, Al delivered. He finished a team best +18 in his 31 minutes, was 2nd on the team in rebounds and went 4-5 from three. I mean, what a God.

- Then of course there was NBA Champion Jayson Tatum. In a game like this, with the entire basketball world watching, it was an opportunity to make a statement. This was true for the Cavs, and it was true for Jayson Tatum. Safe to say, the statement was made

I know this might sound crazy and perhaps it's the Celts Kool Aid talking, but I think it's fair to say that Jayson Tatum has begun the 2024-25 NBA season playing flawless basketball. It's legitimately a 10 out of 10/no notes start. Early in the year, people cried about his shot profile, and that he shot too many 3s. OK bozos, wake the fuck up. Jayson Tatum is now shooting 39% on over 11 3PA a game. Still think he should be shooting fewer 3s? 

Even with his high 3PA volume, we're still seeing Tatum get to the line more than he ever had at any point in his career. He led the Celts again with 7 in this game, and overall his shot profile was about as perfect as you could ask for in a game like this. Locked in from deep, attacked with force when needed

It was very clear early in this game that once the Celts forced the Cavs to switch and put Jarrett Allen on Tatum, it was BBQ chicken. He simply doesn't have the foot speed to stay in front, and I thought Tatum did a great job of exploiting that issue. This eventually became valuable because the Cavs couldn't play Allen down the stretch of this game for fear that weakness would be exploited. That's what I mean when I say the Cavs had a matchup problem. Their strength is rim protection, but given the challenges the Celts create, they couldn't use that rim protection down the stretch of a close game, so it becomes a non-factor. If you don't close out hard on Tatum, that's a 3 in your eyeball. If you do, he's going past you and once he does you have a choice. Try and rotate and give up an open 3PA to a 40% shooter, or don't and watch Tatum finish at the rim. It's a lose/lose. That's Mazzulla Ball.

In a game like this, that's when your superstar needs to show up. Time and time again we are seeing Jayson Tatum rise to the occasion. Hell, even in the Warriors loss Tatum put up an efficient 30 piece. What we're seeing is the combination of efficiency and consistency being added to a player who was already playing at an All NBA First team level. We're watching Tatum take that leap within the 1st Team group to become a top 3 player in the league. I know this is hard for many people to accept, but it's the truth.

For those who demand Tatum show emotion or whatever, he even gave you that when George Niang tried to flop into a call to end the 3rd

While the rest of the NBA couldn't seem to find a way to take down the Cavs, the rest of the NBA isn't NBA Champion Jayson Tatum. No surprise he's the one to do what everyone else couldn't.

- In a battle of two awesome backcourts, we saw the difference of what happens when one side not only gives you elite shotmaking, but also cannot be targeted defensively. If you're watching this game through the lens of a playoff series, this might be the most important piece of the puzzle

When the Celts are getting a combined 30 points, 9 assists, 2 TOs, 7 3PM and All NBA defense from The Stock Exchange, they become too overwhelming. Darius Garland finished 3-21 (0-6), Mitchell 13-29 (3-11), and time and time again we saw the Celts put Garland into actions where he's then tasked with staying in front of one of the Jays. Sadly, he is not going to win that matchup and it's a problem the Cavs are going to have to try and solve.

If the Celts play Allen off the floor, and Garland is going to be targeted every time down in a playoff game, what are they supposed to do? Those are two of their best players that have an easy target on their backs. On the flip side, you have to be certifiably insane to target either Jrue Holiday or Derrick White defensively, and then on the other end, they are 3 level scorers. I thought White was great at not only making timely 3s, but also using his drive to get into the paint for an easy floater/jumper, something that he was able to get whenever he wanted. 

Their versatility is what puts the Cavs in such a bind, and it's no different from what we saw in the playoffs last year. Yeah, Mitchell is fully capable of going off, but he needs to go nuclear just to keep the Cavs close. If Garland isn't making shots, he's honestly pretty unplayable in this matchup simply because of his size and the fact that 4 of the 5 players on the court can be put into actions against him. I don't know how you solve that problem.

- His +/- was all sorts of fucked because he was on the court during Queta minutes, but I would absolutely not include Payton Pritchard when talking about the 2nd unit struggles. He, like he so often is, was awesome

Big momentum 3s when the Celts needed it, especially the one late to put them up 7, the more you watch Payton play the harder it is to understand how he's a real person. Once he sees the ball go through the hoop it's as if something clicks and then it's nothing but buckets the rest of the way. It doesn't matter if it's from 35 feet or a little midrange jumper in the paint, Pritchard continues to have the best season of his career.

- Given how the Celts have shot the ball over their last 4-5 games, it was very obvious they were due for a magnet ball game. They are too good to keep shooting in the low 30s from deep, and they certainly picked a great time to have one. 

Just like there always is, there was a rush to call their performance a "fluke" and that they won't shoot like this again. I'm sorry, has nobody been watching for the last 200 games? This is what the Champs do. This is why Mazzulla Ball is revolutionizing the game of basketball.

Good luck beating this team when they shoot 14-22 from deep in the first half and finish 22-41, and if we're being honest it actually could have been better. Hauser missed open looks, Tatum missed some open looks, Jaylen went 2-7 etc. The issue isn't even the 3P% (53.3%) that the Cavs have to solve, it's the volume. If you don't take away the Cellts 3PA, you're dead. It's that simple.

Once again, it's math. The Cavs dominated in the paint 60-36. They went with the approach of trading 2s for 3s, which isn't going to work. A 24 point advantage in the paint means nothing when you're forced to deal with a 36 point disadvantage from behind the arc. And when the Celts are getting their 3P production through ball movement (32 AST) and aren't just settling for iso contested 3PA, it's no surprise things look a whole lot better. 

Again, there's no shame in getting Mazzulla Ball'd. The Cavs aren't the first, and they certainly won't be the last.

- It didn't exactly carry over, but I thought the Celts defense in the first quarter (20 points allowed) was the best defensive quarter of the season. Their energy was great, they were playing with effort and were defending without fouling, it was very nice to see them start off a game that way considering recently the first quarter has been the quarter from hell, especially on that end.

- Overall I wouldn't say this was the best Jaylen Brown shooting night, but when it came time to seal the win he had one of the biggest buckets of the entire game

The biggest difference for me? We're reaching the point where Jaylen can still find ways to be productive on off shooting nights. He finished with 8 assists and was a +17 in his minutes, he had the huge steal late in the 4th, and this is somewhat of a new development. Usually, when Jaylen struggles from the floor it bleeds into every part of his game. Last night, despite the CTE ball early and blown layups, he found a way to make a positive impact, which to me matters.

I did think he got caught taking the bait of Sam Merrill too often, sort of like how the Celts bait guys into going at Sam Hauser through his whiteness, and that sped him up a little too much. But as you can see on that final layup, he took his time, he didn't rush, and he had one hell of a finish to ice the game.

The Bad

- It wouldn't be a Celts game if we didn't watch them build a 21 point lead only to then watch them throw it all away in about 6 minutes of action. That, was very annoying. As good as their defense was in the first quarter, that's how bad it was in the 3rd. Another quarter allowing 40 points, something that seems to be WAY too common to start the year, the Celts allowed 65/50% shooting while also turning the ball over 4 times. 

Queta was being eaten alive (more on this in a bit), the Jays were 3-9 (2-5) and it was another one of those quarters where if they finish 47/50% with 5 3PM, there is no reason they should lose that frame by 12 fucking points. It was your classic example of if you don't defend, you die. All the offense in the world is great, but if you can't get stops then none of it matters. 

- If the NBA truly cares about why people think their product stinks, maybe it has something to do with assigning Tony Brothers to a game like this. We all knew what was going to happen heading in, and it unfolded EXACTLY like everyone thought. It's no surprise this game unfolded pretty similar to the Bucks game that Tony Brothers worked, with the Celts getting out to an early 21 point lead, then in the second half/4th quarter here comes Tony Brothers to help the opponent get back in the game. The non-calls when there were clear fouls, the inconsistency, the fact that every single 50/50 call somehow went CLE's way once the Celts were out of challenges, it's all bullshit.

This was no different from the shit Tony Brothers pulled in Game 5 against CLE last year, it's no different from really any BOS game that Brothers works. Unfortunately Adam Silver doesn't give a shit and it's going to happen again. I mean, what else are you to believe when we could ALL see Tatum get shoved in the back on a key rebound and Tony Brothers is looking right at it and does nothing?

He remains the absolute worst to ever do it.

- I'm going to need Sam Hauser to snap out of this funk already. I understand nobody can make every shot they take, but the rate at which Hauser is missing WIDE OPEN 3PA, especially from the corners, is starting to become a thing. It's a slump and he's a lifetime 40% shooter so big picture it's fine, but right now? It's not great. Considering Pritchard is the only other bench player who provides scoring, Hauser being able to make his open looks is VERY important. 

- Way too often did we see guys turn their head and get lazy defensively which led to easy Cavs cuts/layups. Pritchard got burned a few times on the baseline, Queta had issues, that's something that you need to be ready for going up against a team that cuts more often than the majority of the NBA. Falling asleep multiple times and giving up easy buckets is how you give a team confidence, and there's really no excuse for it. See the ball, see your man.

The Ugly

- This was by far, without a doubt, the worst performance of Queta's season. There are disasters, and then there's his 16 minutes off the bench. A team worst -15, he looked completely lost on both ends of the floor and the Cavs were certainly not shy about exploiting him both in space and in the post. It was a learning experience and Joe explained why he left him in which makes sense

because the only way you can truly develop is to get actual run so you can make mistakes and correct them but god damn was it tough to live through in the moment. There are definitely times when Queta's potential flashes and you can understand the value that he brings, but there are also nights like last night where he's completely unplayable. Given their big situation and the fact that this is a developmental project, I suppose there will be more games like this down the road, but at the end of the day, Queta simply has to be better.

I also think if this was a playoff game, we'd be seeing Luke. Joe probably already knows what he has in X and Luke, so he decided to let Queta sink or swim. He sank, but they survived. 

- Add Craig Porter Jr to the list of randoms who play the Celtics and then have the best game of their season. I'm pretty sure he's never scored more than 7 points in a game this year so naturally he finished with 15 on 6-8 (3-3) off the bench. As if that wasn't the most predictable thing of all time. So while Cavs fans are once again doing the whole "we didn't have Plater X!!", you also got a prayer performance from a guy who normally would not be playing. Funny how they never mention that.

So while the Cavs are off to a great start, it was a nice reminder that as well as they are playing, it takes something different if you want to take down the Champs. I look forward to their next matchup in a few weeks this time in CLE, where I'm sure it'll be another game that lives up to the hype.