Cavs: 1 stud, 1 dud from comeback win over Celtics

The Cleveland Cavaliers could have easily lost last night. They were coming off a game Friday night, a strong win over the Detroit Pistons. The Boston Celtics had just knocked off the defending champions. The Celtics were favored in the game, and the Cavs would get another crack at them on Monday night.

Then the game started, and the Cavs couldn’t score to save their lives. They went scoreless for over seven minutes in the first quarter, logging just nine points total. They were down by as many as 19 points, and many teams would have folded at that point.

Instead, the Cavs fought back, smothering the Celtics with their defense to induce a scoreless stretch of their own, this time in the second half. They clawed their way back, and the last eight minutes of the game was a back-and-forth affair with the score tied more often than not. Then at the end Garland came up huge with a pair of free throws to take the lead and secure the win.

The Cavs overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the Celtics and get to 9-5 on the season. Who were the stud and dud from another memorable night?

This was a special night for the Cavs to begin with, their first nationally televised game of the season. They broke out their new city edition uniforms and court, which looked excellent on the screen. The crowd was absolutely hopping when the Cavs made their second-half comeback, something that hasn’t been true for much of the last few years.

The Cavs’ defense flexed its muscles Saturday night before a national audience, and their popular young rookie made an even larger name for himself. He leads the way as we identify a stud and a dud from the 91-89 victory.