STREAK BUSTERS: Boston hands Cleveland its first defeat

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Slow down, Cleveland. Boston just sent a message that the NBA, including the Eastern Conference, still belongs to them.

In a highly anticipated clash of the titans on November 20, 2024, the Boston Celtics just showed their championship pedigree by becoming the first team to take down the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-117, in the ongoing NBA regular season.

Heading into the matchup, the Cavaliers are ranked as the no. 1 team in the entire NBA with a perfect 15-0 record, and that great run came to an end after the Celtics outdueled them in a back-and-forth thrilling affair at the TD Garden.

The Celtics were already poised for another breakaway performance after establishing their largest lead of the ball game at 21 points, but the resilient Cleveland squad changed the narrative when they went unconscious in the third quarter.

Just when Boston thought they could sustain their firepower, the Cavaliers went on a 40-28 run in the third and trimmed their deficit to just a deuce.

However, the poised Celtics team answered with their haymakers and didn’t allow Cleveland to steal away the advantage, courtesy of timely buckets from Derrick White and Jayson Tatum during the crucial fourth quarter.

The game turned into a mano-a-mano showdown as Cleveland fought back and kept themselves within striking distance but the Celtics built an eight-point lead in the remaining 1:25 of the game.

With only a little time left on the clock, Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland’s franchise player, tried his all to stage a dramatic comeback after pulling up from way downtown while earning back-to-back trips to the free throw line.

The Cavaliers were only behind by four points, but Tatum put the icing on the cake after hitting clutch shots from the charity stripe to conclude the ball game with a momentum-boosting win.

Tatum led the Boston rally with another all-around efficient performance of 33 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

The superstar small forward set the tone for the Celtics early in the first half and steered them to a comfortable 17-point lead at the half, 65-48.

Aside from Tatum, Boston’s balanced offensive attack also proved to be too much as five of their players also reached double digits in scoring, spearheaded by Al Horford’s 20 points, Derrick White with 19, Jaylen Brown with 17, Payton Pritchard’s 13, and Jrue Holiday’s 11 markers.

On the other hand, Mitchell delivered 35 big points for the Cavaliers but his backcourt partner, Darius Garland, only produced eight, his second-lowest scoring tally of the ongoing season.