Celtics lose Game 2 as Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell cooks their ‘unacceptable’ defense

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown wished to make it clear. This was unacceptable.

Another Game 2 loss on their residence court docket, the place the Boston Celtics confronted an opponent that was sizzling from 3 and had a playmaker who acquired wherever he wished.

“It’s the playoffs, that can’t happen. I don’t care if you’re missing shots, you’ve got to guard the guy on the other end,” Brown mentioned. “That allows you to miss more shots if you’re playing defense. But you can’t miss shots and then allow them to make shots at the other end. That was unacceptable.”

Donovan Mitchell cooked the Celtics as soon as once more. This time, they didn’t have a solution. The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Celtics 118-94 to ship the collection again to Cleveland tied 1-1, as Mitchell proved he may beat the whole lot Boston threw at him.

“He made some tough shots tonight and some tough contested 3s. You got to be up, but he’s a basketball player,” Brown mentioned. “You got to have a little bit more alertness to him, and we’re just trying to take the challenge tonight. He got the best of us, made some tough baskets that allowed him to feel free to get downhill. We just got to keep making it tough.”

This is the primary star guard the Celtics have confronted within the postseason who’s able to choosing aside every protection and matchup the Celtics can supply. Brown is aware of him nicely, and he nonetheless was getting left within the mud.

“They have a lot of really good defenders, so we try to attack in the gaps. Tonight, they guarded me a little differently than they did before,” Mitchell mentioned. “Hitting the 3 ball helps, so now you have to press up, they have to respect it to be able to move.”

When Brown or Jrue Holiday would press on Mitchell, Cleveland would set the display screen nicely above the 3-point line.  He would get a clear launch over the display screen after which Al Horford must deal with an Evan Mobley roll.

If they sat again on Mitchell a bit, he would zoom right into a pull-up 3 and bury it. There was no proper reply.

“They tested our pick-and-roll defense. We have to get better at that,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned. “And like I said, I think a lot of that stuff in the paint came from transition because of our poor offensive spacing and our rim decisions at times.”

Mazzulla mentioned the important thing for Mitchell was to create separation earlier than the purpose of assault, very similar to the Miami Heat did with Tyler Herro in their Game 2 win final collection.

“They are using off-ball (screens) to get him off there, so we just have to be a little more physical in our off-ball (defense),” Mazzulla mentioned. “He got some of those by our communication. I think he hit one pick-and-roll one, and the rest of his 3s came in just our (reads), either miscommunication or body position at times, so just going to have to clean up those technical things of our individual defense.”

Boston lastly tried trapping within the fourth quarter, initially pinning Mitchell in opposition to the sideline so aggressively that he needed to name a timeout. But Cleveland got here again out and solved that protection instantly.

As Jayson Tatum spent a lot of the sport failing to get clear appears to be like over Max Strus, Mitchell’s circulate of play appeared easy at instances. But when requested whether or not watching Mitchell thrive in his consolation zone compounded Tatum’s frustration, the Celtics star didn’t need to make it about him.

“I don’t get into the one-on-one matchup, trying to outscore the other team’s best player,” Tatum mentioned. (*2*)

Once once more, the method goes to be an uphill climb. The Celtics are 14-14 at residence in their final 28 playoff video games.

“I’m only concerned with this year. Last year is last year,” Brown mentioned. “In both of the games we lost here at home, we shot the ball incredibly bad, they shot the ball incredibly well, and then we didn’t play defense to our level tonight, and that’s all I can say.”

There is a little bit of a shock from followers when the Celtics blow these video games at residence. They carried out at a excessive degree within the common season, and any time they don’t appear like it, there’s trigger for concern.

“I mean, that’s the narrative you might see on TV; the idea that we have a super team. It’s twofold, right?” Tatum mentioned. “We didn’t have coach of the year, didn’t have the MVP. We only had two All-Stars, so you say we’re a super team, but we didn’t get rewarded like we are. But we know we’ve got a good team. We’re not perfect, we play the right way more often than not, and we know we’ve gotta be better.”

But the Celtics have all the time been a rope-a-dope group. It’s typically the opponent that will get the primary actual knockdown of a battle with Boston. Both Miami and Cleveland stole one on the highway in opposition to a group that was a lock on the Garden this 12 months.

They’ve been capable of shoot their means again into collection previously, however Cleveland isn’t more likely to roll over offensively as the short-handed Heat did.

“Take it on the chin, you learn from it, and you come out and put your best foot forward for the next game,” Brown mentioned. “Obviously, this was an unacceptable performance. We need to be ready to respond.”

Now they’re in a collection with a top-tier playmaker who has been right here earlier than. Mitchell is aware of tips on how to choose his spots all through the sport. He is aware of tips on how to learn the Celtics’ recreation plan to know when it’s his time to assault.

Brown may have his probability to make issues proper as the collection goes on. But Mitchell can be prepared to regulate and assault.

“That’s the biggest thing on a night-to-night basis,” Mitchell mentioned. “Did it tonight, then gotta do it again and again and again.”

(Photo of Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell:  Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)