BOSTON — Boston is fighting to stay at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, and a big win over Cleveland on Wednesday night helped them maintain the 2-seed while also helping to get the offense back to what it does best.
Locked On Celtics podcast host John Karalis broke it down in a postgame edition of the podcast.
The Celtics sometimes fall into bad habits with their ball sharing and floor-spacing, with too much passing around the perimeter and not enough attacking. Boston kicked those habits to beat the Cavaliers.
“Do not just swing the ball around the perimeter. That’s fake ball movement,” Karalis said. “Get it into the middle, collapse the defense, kick it out. And what do you know? The Celtics, when they started attacking … it was just gorgeous basketball.”
Boston put up 70 points in the middle two quarters and shot 50 percent from the field overall in the win.
“I feel like they took enough (threes), because that’s what the game asked for,” Karalis said. “Those were the shots that you worked for, those are the shots that you got.”
The Celtics made half those threes, and had just 12 turnovers total. Every starter had a double-digit scoring night, but it was Jayson Tatum who led the way with a big-time 41.
“Tatum got going because he was aggressive,” Karalis explained. “In the second quarter, he gets that big, monster put back slam. He gets to the rim. He gets to the line. He took 14 free-throws in this game. Perfect.”
Boston is third in offensive efficiency this season and faces another test against the Cavs next Monday in Cleveland.