Cavaliers drop Game Three to Boston

     The Boston Celtics rebounded from their poor shooting in game two while the Cleveland Cavaliers could not continue their run from the outside and the Celtics regained control of their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series with a 106-93 win in Cleveland to take a two games to one lead.

Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with thirty-three points in the defeat.

Game four will be in Cleveland on Monday night.

Swashbucklings

1) Give the Cavaliers credit for not completely folding in the second half as they continued to scrap back from a deficit that was as large as twenty-three points in the second half.

Cleveland got to within nine points three times and once could have cut the lead to seven but a Darius Garland fast break drive rolled in and out and the Celtics charged down the court to nail a three for a five-point swing.

2)  Donovan Mitchell kept the Cavaliers within shouting distance in the first half with twenty-three of his thirty-three but left the game before its conclusion with stiffness in his nagging knee.

The game was decided, why add wear and tear.

3) Dean Wade returned to the floor after a long absence and hit a three-pointer with his first attempt.

Wade finished with five points in seventeen minutes and might be a candidate for more minutes in game four.

4) Darius Garland's struggles continued with a six for fifteen shooting night.

I like Garland, I do.

He won me over after an atrocious rookie season but I don't think that he is a contender's second-best threat.

Cleveland may have to decide if they can find a better number two scorer or if they think Evan Mobley can develop into one because Garland isn't suited in that role or at least not behind Donovan Mitchell.

5) Should the Cavaliers lose this series and I think they will, the biggest "What If" might be the absence of Jarrett Allen, who along with Evan Mobley might have been able to take advantage of the one weakness of the Celtics, their interior defense and slam the ball inside on them.

Allen's injury to his ribs has to be painful (rib injuries always are) but some members of the Cleveland media are starting to question the length of time that Allen has missed.

Saturday's game was the sixth consecutive game that Allen was unavailable and my question isn't questioning why Allen isn't playing, it is that perhaps the Cavaliers and/or Allen may not have realized the injury was as serious as it has turned out to be.