Cavaliers 95 - 120 Celtics summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA Playoffs Game 1

By this point, if you don't know who Derrick White is shame on you. In any case, Jaylen Brown was in the postgame interview to introduce his teammate to the world. White is becoming just as much of a problem for opposing defenses as Brown or Jayson Tatum. With those three playing like they have been in the playoffs, there may be no stopping this team. 

The Boston Celtics were the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and in the first six games of their postseason, they are showing us why. These playoff games look like the games they were playing at the end of the regular season when they had the one seed wrapped up and played free flowing, stress free basketball.

The Cavaliers will regather and look to steal home court in Game 2, but for that to happen they are going to have to figure out how to keep pace with the red hot Celtics. Game 2 is set for Thursday at 7 pm ET. 

This was a big play. The Cavs were just kind of hanging around for three quarter, and made a little run before the buzzer that could have brought them to a single digit deficit. Instead, Dovovan Mitchell missed this three ball and Peyton Pritchard drilled a buzzer beater to put the C's up 15. 

Mitchell had 32 points, but didn't get a lot of help from anyone in Game 1. Mobley had 17 as the second leading scorer but most of those came late in the 4th when the game was already over. 

Derrick White might have been the best player in the Celtics opening round series. After Game 1, he might be in the running for the best player in this series too. He had 25 points and hit 7 of 12 threes. Stopping White, Brown and Tatum is nearly impossible and which makes Boston nearly impossible to beat. 

Tatum had a "quiet" night as he stepped aside and let Brown dominate, but when you look at his stat sheet he filled it up. In Game 1 he had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. 

Brown had just two points in the second quarter, but he came out in the final half and led his team to the finish line with 15 points after the break. The Celtics have such a luxury having Tatum, and Brown in the same back court. Both guys can take turns killing you, and when they are in the zone at the same time, nobody is beating them. 

With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined for Game 1, which meant that Al Horford and Luke Kornet were going to have to fill in down low. Kornet had 10 rebounds, 4 points and this assists. Even without Porzingis the Celtics are dominating in the lane. 

The Boston Celtics took Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal match up with the Cleveland Cavaliers and made it look easy. Jaylen Brown led the top seeded Celtics with 32 points in the 115-93 win from TD Garden. 

The Celtics had barley had to break a sweat in the playoffs coming into Tuesday night, and that trend continued in Game 1. Jaylen Brown came out on fire, scoring 15 first quarter points and giving the C's a comfortable lead which they held for most of the game. 

IT'S ALL OVER!!!

The Boston Celtics roll to victory in Game 1 from TD Garden!

Pritchard lobs it up into traffic but Queta raises for the alley oop slam. 

Thompson gets the roll on the step back hook shot. 

Pritchard on the step back and he drills it from the top of the key!

Niang back to the line and he hits both after another foul on Tillman. 

Niang to the line after the foul on Tillman and he hits both FTs. Both teams have brought their starters to the bench, and Game 1 is a done deal. 

Tatum to the rack and he lays it up and in before getting fouled by Moble. FT is good. 

Timeout Cavs with 3:42 to go in the 4th quarter. 

Mobley hits the jumper from outside the lane, but his surge came much too late for CLE. 

Holiday backing down Garland and he hits the baseline fader. 

Pritchard in the corner and he drills the three ball off the kick out from Tatum!

Tatum gets the roll off the fader from the FT line. 

Garland with the entry pass to Mobley who goes up and under for the slam. 

Mobley off the dribble and he lays it up off the glass after blowing by Kornet. 

Mobley with another jump hook in the lane, but it's going to take more than that for the Cavs to get back in this game. 

Brown steps into a three from the top of the key and he's got 32!

Mobley with the jump hook out of the timeout. 

Pritchard with the extra pass to Horford in the corner and he sinks the three ball! 

Timeout Cleveland with 9:12 to go in the 4th quarter!

Brown with the step back from the top of the key and he strokes the three ball! The lead is up to 20!

Horford bullying on the baseline and he hits the reverse to go in traffic. 

Garland on the runner from the FT line and he needs to get going for Mitchell and for the Cavs. 

Brown starts the quarter with a floater in the paint. 

Mitchell scooped it up from almost the FT line and got the finger roll to fall. 

Kornet with the tip slam off the missed reverse from Tatum out of the break. 

Mitchell drills a three ball and the Celtics will take a timeout with 1:18 to go in the 3rd quarter. 

White pulls up and drill another three! He's on fire tonight, and has 14 in the quarter!

Mitchell soars through the lane over defenders and lays it up and in. 

Tatum barreled over Thompson and got a wide open lay up as a result. 

Thompson gets the hook shot to go from the block for his first points of the night. 

Mitchell with a tough scoop lay up down the lane and he hangs it high off the glass. 

White drives and floats it up from outside the lane. 

Mitchell with a cross over and pull up from the FT line. He's got 24, tied with Brown for a game high. 

Brown with a stuff on the Mitchell runner and he starts the break and finishes with a psss to Holiday for the lay up on the break. 

White with a catch and shoot from the top of the key and he hits it with Garland's hand in his face. 

Garland took a shot to the face and was slow to get up. He's going to get patch up and come back to the game. 

Mobley running the floor and he throws it down off the dish from Mitchell. 

Brown spinning in the lane and he lays it up and in off his pivot foot. 

Sturs using the dribble to get to the iron and lay it up and in. 

Brown slashes down the lane and throws it down with two hands with Okoro on his back. 

Garland out of the timeout and he drills a pull up three from the top of the key. 

White with the step back three ball from the top of the key and he sinks it!

TImeout Cavs with under 9:00 to go in the third quarter. 

Mitchell to the line after the foul on Holiday and he hits both FTs. 

Holiday drills his second three ball of the quarter and the lead is back to 13. 

Garland drives and lays it up off the glass in traffic. 

Mitchell answers back with a three ball from the top of the key. 

Three ball from White from the wing after the Hoford kick out. 

Mobley to the line after the foul on Horford and he gets one of two FTs to fall. 

Holiday gets the third quarter started with a three ball from the wing!

WE ARE BACK IN ACTION FROM BOSTON!!!

Brown cooled down in the second quarter, but so did everyone. He scored just two points after 15 in the first, but the Celtics only scored 19 and the Cavs scored just 15. 

Spida needs some help tonight, and early on the assistance came from Isaac Okoro who had three threes and 11 points in the first half. 

Donovan Mitchell came out strong, bringing in the Cavs back into the game after a slow start. He gave CLE their only lead with this bucket and had double digits in the first quarter and 17 at the halftime break.

With Porzingis out, it's going to be up to Kornet and Horford to hold it down in the paint. Kornet's got 8 rebound, 2 points and this assists to Jayson Tatum who has 11 points and 8 rebounds of his own. 

The Celtics jumped out to an early advantage thank to Jaylen Brown coming off the block red hot. He had 15 first quarter points to push the lead to double digits. 

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF!!

The Celtics controlled the game all half, but the Cavs are hanging around despite struggling from the field. 

Mitchell to the cup, getting the foul and the lay up to fall. FT is good after the third foul on Tatum. 

Tatum into the lane and he hits the fader from the elbow. 

Strus couldn't get the floater to fall, but Mobley was there for the offensive board and put back. 

Kornet got the tip in to go, but he was called for basket interference. 

Kick out from Tatum and he finds White in the corner for three!

Garland attacks off the dribble and he gets the lay up to fall 

Brown comes out of the timeout and drills the three ball from the wing.

Okoro with a three ball from the wing, and he's got three triples on the night. 

Timeout Celtics with 4:35 to go in the half. 

Brown off the dribble and he hits the long two from the top of the key. 

Garland from the FT line and he drills the pull up. 

Holiday finds Horford working on a mismatch down low and he takes it right to the cup for the lay up. 

Strus with a quick trigger on the break out of the timeout and he needs to get going for CLE. 

Holiday goes coast to coast and lays it up down the lane to give the Celtics the largest lead of the night. 

Timeout Cavs with under 8:00 to go in the half.

Prtichard drills the corner three after the kick out from Brown. 

Tillman off the bench and he finds himself a loose ball in the lane that he puts up and in. 

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF AND THE CELTICS LEAD BY 6!!!

Brown had 15 in the first quarter to get them on top early but the Cavs made a couple rallies to pull close to the home side. 

Morris drills a three ball from the top of the key and he cuts the lead to six at the end of the quarter. 

Pritchard to the line after the foul on Garland and he hits both FTs. 

LeVert stumbling to the lane and he hits the off balanced runner to go. 

Kornet streaking down the lane and he dumped it off for Tatum on the baseline jam. 

Pritchard pull up from right outside the lane and opens his account. 

LaVert was sent to the line by Kornet, and missed both but got his own rebound and put it back up and in. 

Holiday pick up his dribble in traffic and gets it to fall from he block. 

Mitchell gets the pass from LeVert on the break and he side steps Holiday for the lay up. 

Tatum to the line after the foul on Thompson and he hits both FTs. 

Kornet to the line after the foul on Okoro and he hits both FTs 

Tatum with an up and under from the FT line and he hits the leaner and gets the foul on LeVert. FT is good. 

Mitchell to the line after the foul on Brown and he hits both FTs. 

Brown fakes the pass and stretches to the iron with the left handed lay up. 

Mitchell strings a three ball to give the Cavs their first lead of the night. 

Timeout Celtics with 5:31 to go in the first quarter. 

 Mitchell down the lane and he gets the floater to fall.

Brown to the cup off the dribble and he lays it up. 

Garlans hits a pull up three from the top of the key and both teams are starting to heat up. 

White responds with a three ball of his own, and that's the last thing the Cavs want to see. Worrying about Brown and Tatum is enough. They don't want to see White get hot tonight. 

Okoro drills another three ball and he's got a quick 8 points. 

Tatum muscles his way to the lane and hits the runner off the glass. 

Mitchell with the dish down low and he finds Mobley for the slam in traffic. 

White holding of the defender and drives down Main St. for the lay up.

Mitchell sticks a three ball and the Cavs are on an 8-0 run. 

Okoro dives to the bucket and Garland laid if off to him for the finger roll down the lane. 

Okoro hits a line drive three from the wing to give the Cavs a sign of life early on. 

Brown on the fader from the baseline and he's started this series red hot. 

White with a catch and shoot off the dish from Horford and he strings the three! He had a monster opening round. Is he on the verge of a big night tonight?

Timeout Cavs with 9:38 to go in the 1st quarter. 

Brown to the line after the foul on Okoro and he hits both FTs. 

Mitchell opens his account with a drive to the cup through three defenders. 

Brown to the line after the foul on Mobley and he hits both FTs.

Brown starts the series with a pump fake and step back on the perimeter. 

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM BOSTON!!!

Celtics starting five

With no Porzingis tonight, it's going to be Al Horford plugging in down low for Joe Mazzula. Jrue Holiday will be running the show and locking down on the defensive end, while Brown, White and Tatum will look to get off to a quick start and pick up where they left off against Miami. 

Cavs starters

With no Jarrett Allen, it's going to be up to Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro to patrol the paint to start the game. Strus will try and stretch the defense with his perimeter shooting while Garland looks to put an underwhelming first round in the rear view. Even if all these guys do what they need to, they are still going to need Donovan Mitchell to be great. 

NBA

Will Jarrett Allen play for the Cavs in game 1 against the Celtics? Injury update

Allen on the bench for another night

The Cavs are going to need all the help they can get in this series against the best team in the East. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be the case tonight in Boston as Jarrett Allen continues to nurse his rib injury that he suffered in Game 5 against the Magic. Cleveland was without their center, who averaged a career high 16.5 points this season, for Game 6 and 7. While they missed him in Game 6, Evan Mobley and company pulled their weight in Game 7 and the Cavs survived to live another series. Allen came into tonight questionable, and 

NBA

Why isn’t Kristaps Porzingis playing against the Cavs in game 1 today?

Porzingis sidelined 

The regular season went perfectly for the Celtics. They kept a comfortable cushion over the rest of the East and the rest of the NBA to ensure home court advantage throughout the playoffs. They were cruising past Miami with out have to bat an eye, but suddenly disaster struck. In Game 4, their Latvian summer signing pulled up and limped to the bench with what turned out to be a calf strain. We have seen multiple players suffer similar injuries this postseason. Giannis missed the entire first round with a calf strain he sustained late in the season, and Jamal Murray strained his calf late in the series against the Lakers. While Giannis missed the first round for the now eliminated Bucks, Murray is still playing with the Nuggets, but he’s not playing well. Here is Svetozar Pavlovic with more. 

J&J Enterprise

Let’s make one thing very clear. There is no battle between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum for who gets more shots or scores more points. The Celtics drafted both of them, and each of them have matured over the years together. There is no just a coexistence but a dependence on one and other, and each of them know that if the team is going to have a chance to win a title they need to put stats on the back burner. The luxury of having two super stars on the same court and the same time can sometimes be a burden, but each of the Celtics top scorers have used one and other to their advantage. Brown is slightly leading Tatum in scoring with 22.8 points, a full point more than Tatum is averaging in the playoffs, but Tatum is getting 10.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game to lead the Celtics in both categories. Each of them will surely have their games where one is on and the other backs away from the spot light to allow his teammate to shine. Who is going to be the tone setter in Game 1 tonight?

"The Don"

The Cavs know that the only way to win this series is if Donovan Mitchell has a super human performance in each and every game against the Celtics. The Cavs know that. You and I know that, so the Boston Celtics have to know that. Mitchell hasn’t been getting much help in the last few games, and if that’s the case tonight then Cleveland is going to get blown out bad in Boston. He had the first 50 point night of the playoffs in a Game 6 loss in which he scored all of the Cavs points in the fourth quarter, and then responded with 39 in Game 7. Spida is averaging 28.7 points, 5 rebounds and 4.4 assists to join the select list of sensational young talent in this year’s edition of the playoffs.

Cavaliers: how they got here

The Cavaliers are back in the playoffs for the second time in as many years, but are in the second round for the first time since the LeBron James era back in 2018. The Cavs were in the race for the second seed in the East down the final stretch of the regular season, but ended up two games back of the Knicks who claimed the two spot in the conference. Their first round matchup with the Orlando Magic looked like it was going to be a breeze after the first two games in Cleveland. They wiped the floor with the young Magic team before going to Orlando and having the series evened, and eventually to a Game 7. The Cavs trailed in that game by as many as 18 points, but came battling back thanks to Donovan Mitchell’s 39 points and Caris LeVert’s 15 off the bench. 

Celtics: How they got here 

After the Celtics disappointing exit in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the front office made moves eyeing a a deeper run in the playoffs this year. Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday were brought to Boston, and made the Celtics an immediate title contender. They ripped through the regular season, finishing with the top record in the league by a land slide and got a chance at revenge on the Miami Heat in round one of the playoffs. They took care of Miami in five games, and barely had to break a sweat. Their mission is an NBA title, but they are going to have to come into this series as serious as they were against the Heat in the opening round. 

We are live from Boston

Hello everyone and welcome to the Garden where the Celtics are back after rolling through the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. They put in the work all season to earn the top seed in the East and the right to start each series at home, and now it’s they protect their home court. Nothing short of a trip to the Finals will suffice for the Celtics who will take on a Cavaliers team coming off a long and grueling series against the Orlando Magic. It’s time for Donovan Mitchell and company to pick back up and try to knock off the top dogs in the NBA. 

Cavaliers vs. Celtics Game 1 

The top seed in the East, and the team that finished with the best record in the NBA is back home looking to take care of home court advantage in Game 1 of the Conference Semifinals. Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics host Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the series opener from TD Garden and AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis as the Cavs try to steal one on the road.