The Celtics have struggled to find their three-point shot. On Wednesday night they found it, hitting 21 triples in the 125-105 win over the Cavaliers. Jaylen Brown had a huge game as well, scoring 30 points, his 2nd 30+ point game of the season.
The Celtics came out with the same starting lineup as they had in Monday’s win against the Pelicans with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Josh Minott and Neemias Queta. Cleveland was missing Darius Garland, Max Strus and Sam Merrill so it was Donovan Mitchell, Jaylon Tyson, De’Andre Hunter, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen as the starters .
The Celtics first subs were Anfernee Simons, Luka Garza and Sam Hauser. In the middle of the first quarter the Celtics got hot making 5 of 6 threes, including four from Hauser.
We also had a first quarter Hugo Gonzalez sighting after he was a DNP-CD on Monday night.
There wasn’t a ton of defense played and Cleveland led Boston 42-40 after on. Sam Hauser led the team in scoring, going 5/6 from three scoring 15 points. However, the highlight of the quarter was Donovan Mitchell’s buzzer beater.
The 2nd quarter was a stalemate, but the Celtics retook the lead, 54-51. Cleveland got their 3-ball going which had gone a little cold after the first. One three from Lonzo Ball and another from Jaylon Tyson led to a Joe Mazzulla timeout.
The Celtics then proceeded to go on a 20-3 run to end the first half, taking a 75-60 lead to halftime. 13 of Jaylen Brown’s 22 first half points came in that stretch, including the 2nd buzzer beater of the half.
Brown hit a wild shot on the possession before as well.
Josh Minott was very impressive again in the first half, he had 5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block in the half. His athleticism and effort are what continue to stand out. He never stops playing hard whether he is providing full court pressure or is crashing the glass to get an offense rebound. His athletic ability allows for him to be a good defender as well; the secondary rim protection he provides has also been very exciting to start the season.
Minott hit a three and grabbed a steal in the first two and a half minutes of the 2nd half, too.
Cleveland made a run to get the lead to 12 and were on a fast break when Donovan Mitchell smoked bunny at the rim. A Derrick White layup, two missed free throws from Mitchell and a 27-foot prayer from Anfernee Simons at the end of the shot clock allowed the Celtics to push the lead back to 17.
Neemias Queta had an awesome game for the Celtics — even if Josh Minott was the star — with 10 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, Queta was a +26 for the game. Meanwhile, Minott also finished with a double-double with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 3 steals. Sam Hauser had 21 points.
The Celtics next game is an NBA Cup game! Tip off against the undefeated 76ers is Friday at 7:00 EST on Halloween night.
