1 stud, 1 dud from Cavs thrilling win over Celtics Wednesday night

The Cleveland Cavaliers did what was expected of them to start the season, in a way. A close loss to the Toronto Raptors and wins over the Bulls, Wizards and Knicks is about right for a low-tier playoff team. Yet against a true contender like the Boston Celtics the Cavs would likely show they’re not yet at that level.

Then last Friday happened, when the Cavs saw Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert go superhuman in dropping 41 points apiece in a win over the Celtics in Boston. Impressive, exciting – but something of a fluke, right? Finally, with Boston coming to Cleveland for a rematch just five days later, the Cavs would be put in their place.

That, of course, is not what happened. The Cavs met the Celtics punch-for-punch, weathering an early 13-0 run and fighting right back to stay neck-and-neck with Boston down the stretch. Donovan Mitchell shook off a cold start to take over in the closing minutes and the Cavaliers came away with the 114-113 win in overtime for their sixth-straight victory.

The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Boston Celtics and beat them in overtime for the second time in a week. Let’s name a stud and a dud from the Cavs’ win.

There’s a lot from this game we could unpack, from J.B. Bickerstaff’s decision to leave Caris LeVert in the starting lineup to Evan Mobley’s athleticism to Mitchell’s closing stretch. To keep things simple, let’s highlight one stud and one dud from a rocking win in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.