The Cleveland Cavaliers deliver a zinger to blabbermouth Jayson Tatum

Less than five minutes had passed in the last regular-season matchup between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, when the game already seemed decided. In fact, Jayson Tatum shouted a "get out of here" that ended up costing him dearly. Cleveland's coach, Kenny Atkinson, had used up his second timeout, the Celtics had hit seven three-pointers, and Boston was leading 25-3, heading towards what looked like a convincing victory. "We got punched in the mouth," said Donovan Mitchell. "What are we going to do about it? How are we going to respond?" The Cavaliers' response was strong, largely thanks to Mitchell, who finished with 41 points and five assists in 35 minutes in the 123-116 victory against a fully packed and surprised TD Garden. "I think they trust each other," Atkinson stated. "They believe in the message and trust in their team." Before the game, the Cavaliers had not lost since their defeat against these same Celtics on February 4 in Cleveland, a game played less than 48 hours before the trade deadline. In response to that match, where Boston had control and won 112-105, Cleveland acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Caris LeVert and Georges Niang. The move aimed to add another defensive forward to face players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. However, when Hunter entered the game at 7:11 in the first quarter, it seemed that his minutes would only come in garbage time with a lopsided score. The situation quickly changed. Cleveland cut the deficit to 12 points at the end of the first quarter and from there on, began to narrow the gap with a series of offensive runs led by Mitchell and great shooting accuracy. The Cavaliers finished 17 of 39 from three-point range, with eight players hitting at least one. "This shows we have grit," said Evan Mobley, who struggled during the game but finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, including 11 and 8 in the last quarter. "No matter how far down we are, we're going to keep fighting until the end of the game, and tonight we kept fighting, and they let us come back several times." The victory eliminated any chance of Boston (42-18) catching up to Cleveland (49-10) in the fight for the top spot in the East. The Cavaliers extended their lead to eight games in the loss column with 23 games left to play and tied the season series at 2-2. The game also exposed a recurring issue for the Celtics: allowing opponents to get back into the game. Atkinson pointed out that Boston was missing Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Jrue Holiday (finger injury), while Cleveland was at full strength, but the Cavaliers' depth was a determining factor. Cleveland used 10 players, all with at least 12 minutes on the court. Boston, on the other hand, essentially played with seven, was outscored 33-6 in bench points (Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet had -34 and -26 plus-minus, respectively), and relied too heavily on Tatum (46 points on 19 of 37 shooting, 16 rebounds, and 9 assists) and Brown (37 points on 13 of 24 shooting). "It was one of the most impressive shooting performances I've seen," Atkinson said about Tatum's game. Tatum added: "Just being aggressive and in a good rhythm. Obviously, the start of the game on defense ignited our offense and how we played. We did a great job with what we were trying to do, in the actions and space, and how we were trying to attack. The guys on both ends made shots. In the second half, they went on a run in the third quarter, got offensive rebounds, and took more shots than us, which gave them life. In moments where we needed a stop, we didn't get it, and that was tough." As a result, Cleveland secured a victory that bolstered the confidence of a rising young team, just a week after crushing another potential playoff rival, the New York Knicks, at home. Leaving the TD Garden, both teams were already thinking about what could be an inevitable showdown in the Eastern Conference semifinals in May. "Of course," Darius Garland said when asked if it was important to have leveled the season series and the way they did it. "It's now 0-0. Hopefully, we'll come back here in the summer and see it again in seven games."

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