Excitement quickly turned into disappointment at TD Garden on Friday night. The Boston Celtics saw an early 22-point lead evaporate as they fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time this season.
Of course, this game had a ton of buzz heading into it, and rightfully so. It was the final regular-season matchup of the year for the Eastern Conference’s top two seeds, and the stars played like it.
Boston got monster performances from Jayson Tatum (46 points) and Jaylen Brown (37 points), while the Cavs rode Donovan Mitchell’s seemingly eternal hot hand to victory.