Grant Williams' early nap "goes into the ground", the Celtics lost to the Cavaliers in extra time
With the home field advantage and the strongest squad, the Cleveland Cavaliers are confident to repay the debt in the first leg against a Boston Celtics who are in fluctuating form.
The away team today lacks the service of the best player in the previous match, Jayson Tatum, besides the young striker Robert Williams lll.
It seemed that this would be a good opportunity for the Cavaliers to exploit, but the Celtics were a more sublimated team for most of the time on the field.
Jaylen Brown and the excellence of the 3-pointers on the Boston side helped them open the gap of 13 points in the second half, then widen it to 15 points in the third round.
Cleveland then revived a bit, but Boston was still the ones who took the initiative with an 11-point advantage (the score was 102-91 with more than 5 minutes left in the fourth half).
Then two top Cavaliers stars spoke up. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland took turns scoring and creating to help the home team revive.
Mitchell's two consecutive floaters with about a minute of play left put the Cleveland Cavaliers ahead 107-106, completing a 16-4 streak.
Here, the turning point of the game appeared. After two points exchange situations between Derrick White and Donovan Mitchell, the score was 109-109 with 5.1 seconds remaining.
The next chaotic ball put defender Grant Williams on the free-throw line. Since the time is only 0.1 seconds and the score is in a tie, any FT Williams successfully throws could help the Boston Celtics win.
Under tremendous away pressure, Grant still confidently "trash-talked" Donovan Mitchell that he would throw in both, but in the end, the Boston Celtics defender missed both FT throws.
The match then entered extra time, where the spirit of the Boston Celtics was shaken after both dropping the lead advantage and missing the chance to win in the four main innings.
During the 5 minutes of OT, the Celtics only had 1 successful phase of Jaylen Brown, reaching only 1-8 FG in extra time. The Cavaliers weren't great, but their 3-9 FG was enough to beat their Boston-based rival.
Completing a spectacular comeback, the Cleveland Cavaliers won with a final score of 118-114, giving Cleveland fans an emotional game.
Donovan Mitchell was definitely the MVP of the game with 40 points and 11 rebounds. Evan Evan Mobley and Darius Garland shared a double-double, respectively scoring 25 points - 17 rebounds and 17 points - 12 assists.
Although he nearly got himself a triple double of 32 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists, Jaylen Brown could not lead his team to victory on a day without his close friend Jayson Tatum. Malcolm Brogdon is right behind with 24 points and 5 assists.
Winning this intense match, the Cleveland Cavaliers will continue to maintain their No. 4 position in the East. The next round they will march to Miami to be a guest on the field of Miami Heat.
As for the Boston Celtics, coach Joe Mazzulla's teachers and students have lost their third game in a row and will need adjustments before entering the sprint phase of the Regular Season. Next game, they will return to their home ground to host the Portland Trail Blazers.
Both matches mentioned above will take place at 7:30 am on March 9.
