BOSTON — Donovan Mitchell banked in a three-pointer from a few steps beyond the top of the arc and could only shrug as he backpedaled back on defense. He followed with two baskets in the lane to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 16-point lead.
“Sometimes you get lucky,” Mitchell said after scoring 29 points to help Cleveland beat Boston 118-94 on Thursday night. “Shooters shoot.”
Two nights after losing the opener by 25 points, the Cavaliers answered with a blowout of their own, beating the top-seeded Celtics in Boston to tie their Eastern Conference semifinal series at one game apiece. The teams now head to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.
We expected them to play better and they did,” Celtics center Al Horford said. “They responded and we didn’t.”
Mitchell scored 33 points in the opener but got little help. On Thursday, the Cavs All-Star took just six shots and scored six points in the first half, while handing out five assists. Mitchell had 16 points in the third quarter and hit three consecutive baskets to start the fourth, including the 28-footer off the glass.
missed his third consecutive game with a strained calf muscle. Mobley started at center in place of Jarrett Allen, who has missed five consecutive games with bruised ribs, and reached a career playoff high in points.
Mobley scored 11 in the first quarter, when the Cavaliers quickly fell behind by nine — giving the vibes of a second consecutive blowout. But Cleveland ran off 11 points in a row — eight from LeVert. Boston went ahead by eight in the second before the Cavs sent it into halftime tied.
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