The Celtics have extra to fret than have fun about following their uneven Sport 4 win over the Cavaliers.
With out Donovan Mitchell (calf) and Jarrett Allen (rib), arguably Cleveland’s two finest gamers, the Cavaliers battled toe-to-toe with the Celtics in Boston’s 109-102 win.
This was a sport the Celtics ought to have became a laugher the identical method the Pacers did Sport 4 of their best-of-seven collection with the injury-plagued Knicks on Sunday. As a substitute, Boston allowed Cleveland to remain within the sport and have an opportunity to drag off the upset late.
Boston was outscored 24-21 within the fourth quarter because the offense stalled, which is a function, not a bug, of its season.
The Celtics completed second in scoring (120.6 factors per sport) throughout the common season however have been simply 14th in scoring within the fourth quarter (27.8 factors per sport), in response to StatMuse.
The offense devolves into stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown bailing the group out with makes an attempt late within the shot clock, which does not bode effectively for the group’s championship aspirations.
Tatum and Brown ought to have sufficient to shut out the Cavaliers, whereas a one-legged Knicks group or inexperienced Pacers squad await in a possible Japanese Convention Finals matchup.
As The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor famous earlier than Sport 4, the purple carpet could not be laid out nicer for the Celtics to get to the NBA Finals.
