Celtics rain 3-pointers on Cavaliers, hand Cleveland first loss 120-117

There were a lot of things Boston did right in this game: Great defense, particularly in the first half, taking Cleveland out of its flow and keeping the ball on one side of the court; Jayson Tatum scoring 33; Al Horford hanging with the two big men the Cavaliers roll out and coming up with crucial blocks late.

However, the Celtics won for a far more simple reason: They made 22 3-pointers and shot 53.7% from deep. Boston shot 14-of-22 (65.2%) on 3-pointers in the first half. For the game, core Celtics Tatum, Horford, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard combined to shoot 20-of-32 from beyond the arc.

When Boston shoots like that from 3 it becomes a math game and no other team can keep up.

Boston played a brilliant first half of basketball, led by as many as 21, and held on at the end to hand Cleveland its first loss of the season, 120-117.

The Cavaliers are now 15-1 on the season, still atop the East, but with a better idea of what it is going to take to knock off these Celtics in the postseason. Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 35 points, while Evan Mobley had another strong game with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

One thing that hurt Cleveland was a rough night from Darius Garland, who was hounded by White and Holiday, and shot 3-of-21. The Cavaliers can also spin a positive out of this loss that they went toe-to-toe with the champs while without rotation players Isaac Okoro (they really missed his defense), Caris LeVert, Max Strus and Dean Wade. To be fair, Boston won without their starting center Kristaps Porzingis.

This was a game both teams took seriously, not something you often see in November — Boston wanted to remind Cleveland who is the champs, Cleveland wanted to make a statement, and throw in this was an NBA Cup game and it matters a little more (both the Celtics and Cavaliers are 1-1 in NBA Cup games and both are now chasing 2-0 Atlanta in East Group C).

Early on this just felt like Boston’s night, they went on an early 9-0 run and all the 3s started falling. Boston led by 17 at the half, and early in the third quarter, it stretched that lead to 21. Boston could seem to do no wrong.

Then came the Cavaliers, who made a 22-5 run in the third quarter and turned it into a game.

“You expected something like that to happen…” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame. We got cross-matched in transition, which gave them some easy baskets… just the nature of the game.”

It was a single-digit game the rest of the way, but the Cavaliers could never get over the hump.

These teams play three more times this season, but what Cleveland really wants to find a way to do is get over the hump with this team come May.