The Celtics Crushed The Cavaliers In A Shocking Game 1 Blowout

The Cavaliers were -1.5 point favorites on the road for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, taking on a Celtics team that has been undervalued by many throughout the postseason. Boston managed to cover by a cool 26.5 points, dominating Cleveland from the jump in a 108-83 win behind some stifling defense and balanced offensive attack.

It didn’t take the Celtics long to figure out the Cavaliers’ defense has some holes and they attacked those early and often, getting to the rim nearly at will. Al Horford had a big start to the game, giving Kevin Love the business in the first half in the paint before Cleveland recognized the need to insert Tristan Thompson in the game to give them a stronger physical presence in the paint.

Once Thompson entered, the weakness for the Cavs’ defense was in their constant switching, so they attacked them in pick-and-roll and found mismatches, particularly with Jaylen Brown having a big first quarter, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the opening period.

Jayson Tatum also had a strong game with 16 points and six boards, hitting some big three-pointers that seemed to deflate the Cavs even more.

The best example of just how dominant Boston was against Cleveland was this sequence put together by Brown as he swatted Kevin Love and then hit a jumper over Kyle Korver on the other end.

Marcus Morris talked a big game about slowing down LeBron and he backed it up in Game 1 with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while leading the charge in holding James to 15 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds on 5-of-16 shooting (although that was a full team effort from Boston).

The Cavs trailed by as many as 28 in the third quarter, but rallied to within 14 as the third quarter ended with a buzzer-beater from Jeff Green to pull them within striking distance entering the fourth quarter.

However, Tyronn Lue inexplicably decided to roll with a lineup featuring the combination of Jeff Green, Jordan Clarkson, and Rodney Hood, which entered the game with a -17.3 net rating in 95 minutes this postseason. The Celtics quickly extended their lead back out to over 20 points, though, and the final dagger came courtesy of a big three from Tatum.

Now, the onus is on the Cavs to make the necessary adjustments to the Celtics’ onslaught on both ends. Cleveland shot the ball terribly from the field, shooting 36 percent from the field and an almost impossible 15.4 percent from three-point range.