Boston Celtics carve up Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 game thoughts & observations

The Boston Celtics built on a late second quarter surge to put away the Cleveland Cavaliers 128-95 at TD Garden Friday night.

The Boston Celtics scored a season-high 128 points in a complete beatdown of the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night at TD Garden.

Led by Kyrie Irving, who put on his best Uncle Drew performance, the Celtics were able to break away from Tristan Thompson and the Cavaliers to win their second straight game.

With Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris in the starting lineup, Boston started off the game hot, flying off to a 9-2 lead.  Irving was on fire, the ball movement was crisp and it looked like the Celtics had the four-win Cavaliers on the ropes for a knockout punch.

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However, Thompson reverted his All-Star like ways against the Celtics and Jordan Clarkson started to look like Jamal Murray marching the Cavs back into the game and giving them an eventual lead in the second quarter.

In fact, it started to look like the Celtics were back to their struggling ways against inferior competition.  But, Kyrie Irving was inserted back into the game and the team finished the second quarter with a flourish, taking a 62-52 lead into halftime and never looking back as they put their foot on the pedal in the second half.

Overall, it was a good showing by the Boston Celtics, especially without Al Horford and Jaylen Brown.

Here are three game thoughts and observations from the 128-95 thrashing of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The aggressive Gordon Hayward

Kyrie Irving called out Gordon Hayward to be more aggressive and he certainly answered that call.

Coming off the bench, Hayward finished the game 6-of-9 from the field in a 14-point performance.  He not only made some shot from the perimeter, he drove to the hoop showing more confidence in his ability to finish and opening up plays for his teammates.

That was the kind of effort Irving was talking about and something the team overall needs from Gordon, who was playing more passive in previous games.

Though he still needs time to get back to his All-Star form physically, it is the confidence that will boost Gordon Hayward to effectively help the team in the meantime.  On Friday night, that confidence was on full display.

"“Sometimes it’s hard to be aggressive in looking for your shot if shots aren’t going in,” Hayward said following the game.  “I think the only way, though, is that you’ve got to keep shooting, you’ve got to keep attacking.  I talked [Thursday] about getting to the free-throw line more – I did it one time tonight, so that’s a start – but I think just having more of an attacking mentality helped me out.”"

That aggressiveness showed on the court and hopefully will continue going forward now that he has the confidence in his ability to attack the basket even if the shots aren’t falling.

The Celtics did what they are supposed to do

Yes, it was just the Cleveland Cavaliers (without Kevin Love), but the major positive from the game is the fact that the Boston Celtics blew out a team at home that they were supposed to blow out at home.

With awful showings against teams like the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz at TD Garden, the Celtics almost fell into the trap of playing down to their opponents during the second quarter.

Kyrie Irving, Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart, however, wouldn’t allow that to continue.  A late second-half flurry really put the game away.  The most important part was that the team smelled blood and went in for the kill to begin the second half.

In building their lead to more than 30 points in that second half, the Boston Celtics showed their ability to put their foot on the pedal and close games, which has been one of their struggles this season.

Smart summed it up nicely following the game:

As a whole, the team played connected, played with intensity on both ends of the court and showed the type of dominance fans were expecting heading into the season.

Kyrie simply amazing

No, the Boston Celtics don’t have that 14 or 15-year veteran Kyrie Irving said the team needed, but the All-Star point guard has certainly stepped up into a leadership role since making the comment.

Against his former team, he scored 29 points and was on fire from all points of floor.  He was on such a heat check that he basically pulled up from almost half court to launch a 3-pointer during one play.

Beyond Irving’s scoring ability the last few games, he has been impressive with his defensive effort and passing ability.  Finding a way to balance hi scoring and getting his teammates involved has been a challenge Kyrie Irving has seemingly figured out.

If there is any doubt of that, check out this pass to Aron Baynes that had all of social media buzzing Friday night:

In calling out Gordon Hayward to be more aggressive and challenging the younger players on the team, Irving appears to be taking his role to another level.

Sure, it has stemmed mostly out of frustration, but his play and leadership on the court could just be the fuel in launching the Boston Celtics back to the top of the Eastern Conference as a favorite.