CLEVELAND — The battle for the paint is typically won by big men on the inside, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday night in the Celtics’ 106-93 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Kristaps Porzingis remained out with a calf strain. Al Horford looked as though his increased minutes filling in for Porzingis were taking a toll on him. Luke Kornet was limited to 2 points and one rebound in eight minutes. Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta did not play.
Despite getting just 4 points and eight rebounds from their bigs, Boston owned the paint Saturday night because Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown decided it was theirs to control.