Instant Reaction: Celtics 103, Cavaliers 86

Nov 29, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (2) drives between Boston Celtics shooting guard Jeff Green (8) and center Vitor Faverani (38) during the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Final Outcome

From the get go, the Cavaliers fell behind the Boston Celtics and couldn’t recover. The Wine & Gold scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and despite a few nice runs, they were blown out by the Boston Celtics. Simply put, it was an ugly and non-asetetically appealing game full on unforced turnovers, Anthony Bennett fails and Jared Sullinger made three-pointers. In the end, the Cavaliers fell in Boston by a score of 103–86. Dion Waiters led the Cavaliers with 21 points off the bench.

Key Shot Chart

Instead of a play, just take a look at the Celtics’ shot cart tonight  and stare in awe at how good Boston’s jump-shooting was tonight on their home floor.

And now look at the Cavaliers shot chart form tonight’s game.

Wine & Gold MVP

It doesn’t feel right to pick an MVP in a game where the Cavaliers played so poorly, but at least we saw a Kyrie Irving tonight who played aggressively and finished at the hole. He was the one player who was able to consistently finish and he played with some fire. And even then his play was inconsistent and Irving still isn’t really like himself. Dion Waiters largely did the same, but he wasn’t as effective consistently until garbage time in the fourth. Thus, I’m just going to watch the clip below over and over gain until I go crazy and forget this game ever happened.

Top Tweets

Coach Brown Breakdown

It hasn’t been the best season of coaching for Mike Brown thus far and tonight was another example of that. The Cavaliers got down early and nothing he did got the Cavaliers energized. His decision to start Sergey Karasev backfired, as the rookie didn’t handle his first start well. He also oddly stuck with Bynum in the second half when the Cavaliers again found themselves down by 20 and needed to push the pace to make it competitive. Simply put, Bynum can’t play in transition and keep up with his quicker teammates – so why is he even in at that point?

And just so I can talk about something positive, I was glad to see Brown give minutes to Anthony Bennett, Tyler Zeller, Waiters and other young players. In a game the Cavaliers absolutely were going to lose after the first quarter – and then failed to come back – this was the right move. And it was one the only good moves Brown made all night.

Up Next

The Cavaliers get no time off, as they travel to play the Chicago Bulls tomorrow on their home floor. The Bulls, transitioning into life (again) without Derrick Rose. At 7-7, they are not quite near the top of the East sat many (including yours truly) expected them to be. Still, coached by Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls are a strong defensive team and will present a touch matchup for the Cavaliers. In their previous meeting, Cleveland lost by 15 and no one played particularly well. And as the Cavaliers continue to struggle, expect Chicago to once again give the Cavaliers fits on both ends of the floor.