Boston Celtics choke overtime loss vs Cavaliers: Key takeaways

On Monday night, the Boston Celtics choked against the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime 118-114.

The Celtics are coming off two straight chokes against the Nets and Knicks.

This was the third overtime matchup between the Celtics and Cavaliers this season as they lost both games back in October and November. Their last matchup was not too long ago when they faced off last Wednesday as Tatum and Mitchell went at it with 40+ apiece in the Celtics win.

The Cavaliers have won all their games in Overtime this season, while the Celtics have lost 3 out of their last four overtime games, only winning against the Pacers on February 23.

Boston Celtics were short once again

Three starters were out for the C’s in tonight’s game that impacted their offense. Jayson Tatum was out with a left knee contusion, Al Horford was out with lower back stiffness, and Robert Williams III is still dealing with his left hamstring. Horford is known to not play during the 2nd night of a back-to-back, as he hasn’t played such games this season.

In their place, Blake Griffin and Mike Muscala both played down low for the Green. Jaylen Brown moved over to Small Forward to make room for Derrick White who played at shooting guard as he also did last night.

Jaylen Brown carried the team for the starters, scoring 32 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. White only scored 12, Smart had 11, and Muscala and Griffin had 5 & 4 points respectively.

However, the bench stepped up in the loss as Brogdon scored 24 points off the bench and Grant Williams had 12 points. The Celtics had 48 points off the bench while the Cavs only had 23 off the bench.

Boston Celtics choked a big lead in the 4th

At the start of the 4th quarter, the Celtics were up by 14, and during the game were up by as much as 15. The Cavs haven’t led since early in the 1st quarter until in the final seconds of the 4th quarter when Donovan Mitchell made a jumper with 24 seconds left.

Derrick White took back the lead with a three-pointer until Donovan Mitchell made two free throws after a Grant Williams shooting foul to tie the game.

Grant Williams got fouled from a follow-up tip in near the end of the 4th quarter after Peyton Prichard drive the ball to the paint to try to win the game after the game was tied at 109.

It was 0.8 seconds left in the game, and Williams got two free throw shots, and would’ve won with hitting just one shot. Well, he missed both free throw shots and the game went into overtime.

Celtics lead 112-111 with about 2 ½ minutes left in the overtime period until letting the game run away from them once again for the 118-114 loss.

The Boston Celtics will go back to TD Garden when they face the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm tip off. Then afterwards, they’ll go on a six-game road trip starting in Atlanta on Saturday, March 11 at 7:30 tip off.