Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from Game 2 win versus Boston Celtics

The Cleveland Cavaliers won again versus the Boston Celtics Saturday night; here’s three things that stood out.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have started off pretty well, as they’ve won their first two preseason games. Both of those have come against the Boston Celtics, and in both games, Cleveland was definitely the better team. Now, it’s preseason, but this is something to build on.

Wins are never a terrible thing, and the Cavs took down the C’s 113-102. It was hard to consider it a completely resounding victory, considering Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Kyle Korver and George Hill sat for Cleveland, and Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward sat for Boston.

That’s fine, though. The Cavaliers controlled the game from start to finish, and made it difficult for the Celtics most of the night.

Cleveland’s starters did the job in the first quarter, taking a 30-21 lead, and the Cavs kept it up after that. Going into the halftime break, Cleveland led 58-43.

The Cavs again rocketed the ball down the floor, and that led to free throws and a number of quality pull-up opportunities. Cleveland made 27-of-31 free throws, and that’s going to be a key focus this season with more balance among driving threats.

The Cavaliers have one of the best bigs in the league in Love, and to get him more room for perimeter shots coming off screens, driving more to the rim this year is a must. Cleveland showed that ability again versus Boston on Saturday, and that obviously be a common theme even more with faster pace.

In terms of the first takeaway, it’s clear that the backup bigs can provide a big lift.