Apr 5, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Tristan Thompson (13) shoots the ball against Boston Celtics power forward Chris Wilcox (44) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

The Cavaliers came into tonight’s game against the Celtics with a 10-game losing streak. They hadn’t had a lead entering the fourth quarter in 4 games, and were coming off an 18-point loss at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets. That losing streak, however, is now over, as the Cavaliers handled business in the second half for the first time in what seems like forever, finishing with a 97-91 win over the banged up Celtics. Boston was playing without Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, but that doesn’t matter. The Celtics haven’t played well as of late, winning only three of their last 10. That doesn’t matter. The Cavaliers picked up a win in a game that they should have won. And that is a good thing.

This one was a very competitive game throughout, as the Cavaliers kept pace with the Celtics throughout a tough first half, as both teams missed every three they took, and struggled to generate offense outside of Shavlik Randolph, who was 5-6 for 13 points in the first half for Boston, while the Cavaliers were powered by 9 points and 5 rebounds from Tristan Thompson. Kyrie Irving struggled to score in the first half, getting hounded by Avery Bradley, but the Cavs found a way to stay competitive, and the game remained tied at 52 at the half.

Normally, this is where the Cavs would wilt in the third quarter and end up losing by double-digits. This is what’s happened many a time over the losing streak. The Hawks game. The Hornets game. The first Celtics game. Both 76ers games. However, the Cavs battled back after an early Celtics run, and claimed a six-point lead after three quarters. From there, it was all gravy for the Cavs, as Tristan Thompson and Alonzo Gee consistently dominated through both scoring and rebounding, and the Cavs held off the Celtics to clinch the victory. Thompson was the star of the night, remaining the top offensive option for the Cavs throughout the game, finishing with 29 points, and killing the Celtics on the boards, as he would finish with 17 rebounds, nearly double the Celtics’ best individual effort (Jeff Green, who had 9 in addition to 23 points and 4 assists as the Celtics top option). Gee would finish with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs, most of which came in that third quarter. Irving, despite a poor shooting night, still found a way to get involved, feeding Thompson and Gee consistently and playing some solid defense of his own, as he finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Apr 5, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers small forward Alonzo Gee (33) shoots the ball against Boston Celtics power forward Chris Wilcox (left) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

One thing that definitely made a difference tonight was Byron Scott’s substitution patterns, which changed significantly from what has been common over the losing streak. While we have been fed a consistent diet of Luke Walton, Marreese Speights, and C.J. Miles as the top options off the bench, tonight, Scott decided to play the younger guys, and had some positive results. Speights and Walton played a combined 5 minutes, as Walton injured his ankle early on, and Scott thus relied on Kevin Jones, who played 22 minutes and finished with 2 points and 8 rebounds, while playing some nice defense on Randolph and Chris Wilcox down low. Shaun Livingston played his usual amount, but more Wayne Ellington and less C.J. Miles than we’re used to meant positive results for the Cavs defense, as the Cavs guards held the Celtics guards to a combined 10-41 from the field, with Avery Bradley’s 3-10, 10 point performance being the best offensive showing from the backcourt for Boston. Even if injuries forced it, in a week where Byron Scott has received endless heat from critics for his roster rotation and team defense, Scott adjusted on the fly with beautiful results, particularly on the defensive end.

This was an excellent game for the Cavaliers, even if it came against a banged-up Celtics team. A road win against a playoff-team is a great statement to end a losing streak on, and getting a truly dominating performance from Thompson is comforting. With Orlando coming to the Q on Sunday, the Cavs have a chance for back-to-back wins, and even though the Cavs are tanking, and wins could be seen as a negative, for tonight, a win is very, very welcome.

Jan 22, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (2) makes a layup while being fouled by Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce (34) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

For the third straight game, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be taking on team currently in line to make the playoffs from the Eastern Conference when they travel to Boston to take on the Celtics. With Kyrie Irving likely to play, the Cavaliers will have an advantage at the point guard position – but that’s about it. In all likelihood, this going to be another loss for the Cavaliers in this lost season.

Opponent’s Blog:  Hardwood Houdini

Venue: TD Bank Garden Arena

Tipoff: 7:30 PM ET

Betting Line: Boston by 6 ½

Where you can watch: Fox Sports Ohio

Where you can listen: WTAM (1100), WFUN (970 AM)

For the Cavaliers, as it is every game here on out, it’s about seeing what kind of the play the young talent puts forth. Tonight is going to be a good look for that, as even as they have dealt with several injuries, they have some really good players that are established in the league. At point guard, Avery Bradley is a strong defender who is going get up in Irving’s grill and push him. Paul Pierce will push the wings. Overall, it is going to be interesting to see how the Cavaliers young guys play against the veteran Celtics.

But if the Cavaliers want any hope of winning this game, everything is going to have to click. Players like Wayne Ellington and C.J. Miles (regardless of those who starts) are going to have to hit their shots consistently – especially the three point shot. Alonzo Gee is going to need to get up into Pierce and make him work for his buckets.

Tyler Zeller, in my mind, is incredibly important. At his best, he runs the floor well and scores in transition. At his worst, he’s physically beat up and is a nonfactor because he can’t bang on the inside. Which ever Zeller shows up will be areal indicator of what Cavaliers team will show up in the TD Garden.

For the Celtics, their offensive should be fine tonight. Wings Jeff Green and Pierce are going to get there against a Cavaliers team that isn’t exactly strong on defense from the wing. But where else their points come from is up in the air.

This is a problem they’ll be facing for the rest of the season as they head into the playoffs. And as the seventh seed in the East, a matchup with the New York Knicks looms. Quite honestly, that matchup isn’t a nightmare like a matchup with the Miami Heat would be. The Knicks have had injury troubles as of late and, if the Celtics can get hot, they could win that series. After all, they only need to steal one when they play at Madison Square Garden.

But for tonight, there is not a good way for the Cavaliers to win this game. The Celtics, with all their troubles, are the better team. This game is all about –as I have wrote numerous times – seeing what this Cavaliers is made of and what pieces they can  build around. Tonight is a good as night as any to find out.

Mar 27, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Wayne Ellington (21) drives to the basket against Boston Celtics power forward Jeff Green (8) in the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

It’s fun playing the “who will show up” game with the Cleveland Cavaliers when three of your star players (I’m including Anderson Varejao because it seems he has been missing for so long that most people forget to add him to the extended list of injuries). When the Boston Celtics game to town to play the Wine and Gold, everyone had a fair chance of guessing if anyone at all would help the Cavaliers get out of their fifth slump of losing more than four games in a row this season.

After getting off to a sluggish start that included members of the Celtics tearing through the lane and getting easy buckets, Boston was out to an early 12-9 lead when Cleveland called their first timeout so Tyler Zeller and Tristan Thompson could collect themselves. Things didn’t finish as well as Coach Byron Scott discussed in the huddle, and that was due to the poor shooting from the struggling shooting guards. Wayne Ellington (1-of-6), Daniel Gibson (0-of-1) and C.J. Miles (1-of-3) – all who have played ineffective basketball since Dion Waiters went out – were all hard to watch in the first quarter and were too predictable with their shot selection.

The first quarter ended with a Marreese Speights’ buzzer-beater two pointer being waved off after referees took a long time making a call on the play. Cleveland was only down by six points after the first 12 minutes, which in my opinion was a victory for this team who struggled immensely from the field from the start. Both the Cavaliers and the Celtics made seven shot attempts in the first frame, but it was Boston’s ability to get to the line late that gave them the advantage.

Once the second quarter began, it looked like the same old story meaning that the Cavs would be in for a long night after some cold shooting. An 11-5 run spanning the first four-plus minutes of play resulted in another Byron Scott timeout. A nice defensive stand that cut Boston’s lead back to six was just what Cleveland needed to get back into the game with their best healthy player shockingly underperforming. With Kevin Garnett out and the offensive success that Tristan Thompson has had this season against Boston (averaging 16.0 points).

Thompson finished the half scoreless, but Cleveland had narrowed the gap to just a one-point Boston lead. Both teams are on different ends of the spectrum of the NBA world, but injury problems have plagued the Celtics on the Cavaliers in two very different seasons for these teams. Boston, with their age, seems to be heading toward a downward trend, while Cleveland looked like one of the most improved teams for a short minute when Kyrie Irving and Waiters were both healthy. Out of the four players from the last two draft classes, Tyler Zeller was the player to show up against a depleted Boston frontcourt and with Irving and Waiters in their suits and ties.

Zeller had one of his best performances in a half of basketball all season, balancing for nine points (4-of-5 from the field) and eight rebounds – very Tristan-Thompson like numbers at the half. With the team on a five-game losing streak, who would’ve thought the awkward center from North Carolina – who has been beat up all season long – would’ve willed his team to a hot second half start.

After going on a tear led by Ellington (!), Cleveland took the lead and extended it to 12 points after going on a 21-8. Although Scott was not happy with the team’s performance down the stretch in the third quarter, the team still came out firing in the fourth to try and end their five-game skid. In fact, both teams were fighting to end losing streaks of the same amount. The question was, who wanted it more? The Cavaliers’ playoff hopes have been lost for sometime and Boston, despite a tough stretch lately, looks to be safe with securing a spot in the postseason. Different reasons to win and different motivation to as well.

As if this game couldn’t get any more weird with the players who were helping will the Cavs to victory, Miles and Gibson hit threes to open up the fourth and a 79-70 lead. Boston looked tired and confused, but we’ve seen meltdowns worse than this from Cleveland this season – would it happen again?

With the lead up to 14 points at one point in the waning minutes of the game, Boston fought back to keep the game within reach. With under three minutes to go in the game and the Celtics on the verge of building up a big run with their inside game, the lead was down to six and it looked like the same meltdown that we have known the Cavaliers to have.

With a Cleveland turnover with less than two minutes to go, the defense needed to step up. Once again Boston went to the hole and Jeff Green finished with an and-one drive, narrowing the lead to one point. Shaun Livingston came up with a block on Green and Cleveland played solid defense on Boston’s final possession to try and close out the Celtics with less than 10 seconds left on the clock and up by just one point.

But Jeff Green, who had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists, did what he had done all night and drove down the lane to beat the Cavs at the buzzer, 92-91. The unlikely heroes — Zeller and Ellington — showed up in opposite halves, resulting in a loss.