The Cleveland Cavaliers just didn’t have the talent to hang around.
That has to be the main takeaway from the Cavs’ 111-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. With eight players (including three starters) in the health and safety protocols, and Collin Sexton out for the year, over 50 percent of Cleveland’s roster was unavailable heading into the game.
That forced Tacko Fall into the starting lineup, and heavy minutes on the remaining rotation players. Denzel Valentine doesn’t play on a night when the Cavs are mostly healthy, but had to play over 26 minutes in this one. Fall logged 19, matching his career-best in his first career start.
For their part the Boston Celtics were hit in a less extreme way by the virus, losing a few rotation pieces in Al Horford, Grant Williams and Josh Richardson but keeping likely their top four players intact. Robert Williams III returned after missing the Celtics’ last game to roast the Cavs inside to the tune of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston with 34 points.
The Cavs were down eight players and three starters against the Celtics, and they just didn’t have enough in the tough loss Wednesday night
The game was close early on before the Celtics blew things open in the second quarter. Cleveland never truly went away, battling back from a 20-point second-half deficit to briefly get within single digits before Brown and Williams salted it away. Darius Garland led the way for the Cavs with 28 points, but he was the only starter to score in double-figures.
Let’s dig deeper into Garland’s impact as the Cavs’ stud for the night. Who among a number of disappointing performances most let the Cavs down on a night when their six-game win streak was broken? Here is 1 stud and 1 dud for a Cavs team doomed from the start.