Grant Williams missed two free throws in the last second of the fourth period and the Boston Celtics fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime on Monday to suffer their fourth loss in the last five games (118-114).
Just one day after losing after two overtimes against the New York Knicks (129-131), the Celtics once again took the knee in extra time in a game in which they did not have Jayson Tatum and the Dominican Al Horford.
The Cavaliers, who claimed the victory despite trailing for most of the game, have won three of the four games they have played against the Celtics this season and in those three wins the duel was resolved in overtime.
An extraordinary Donovan Mitchell had 40 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland (41-26) while Evan Mobley had 25 points and 17 rebounds.
The Spanish Ricky Rubio played 7 minutes for the Cavaliers with 2 points.
For the Celtics (45-21), who see the Milwaukee Bucks escape in front of the East (46-18), Jaylen Brown was the best with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists.
BOSTON SHINES FROM THE PERIMETER
Two straight 3-pointers by Marcus Smart, celebrating his 29th birthday tonight, gave the Celtics a 5-point lead midway through the first quarter.
A great first quarter from Mobley, with 11 points and 7 rebounds, and another explosive 9 points from Mitchell could not stop the Celtics’ drive, who led the score at the end of the initial segment (26-33).
Two triples by Williams, coming off the bench, and another by Derrick White increased the Celtics’ lead against some Cavaliers in which Mitchell seemed too lonely (19 points in the first two quarters).
Boston reached +15 before the break and its 13 of 25 three-pointers in the first half, compared to 8 of 17 for the Cavaliers, was decisive for the visitors to go to the locker room with a 12-point lead (56- 68).
WILLIAMS FAILS AT THE WORST TIME
Cleveland’s defense, the best in the NBA, recovered after the restart cemented by Mobley and the wall of center Jarrett Allen. However, the Celtics maintained a comfortable margin at the end of the third quarter (78-92).
The locals cut 6 points in the first two minutes of the last quarter, giving hope to the assistants of the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, who began to shout shouting in search of the comeback.
The Celtics seemed heartbroken while the Cavaliers radiated sparks and, with 2.53 remaining in the game, the visitors’ lead was only 2 points after two consecutive three-pointers by Darius Garland and a free throw by Lamar Stevens (100-102).
Cleveland, which had trailed on the scoreboard since the first period, finished off its comeback with a basket from Mitchell with 24 seconds left (107-106).
A lucky 3-pointer by White, who came in crying after rebounding off the rim, put the Celtics back ahead with just 15 seconds left, but Mitchell tied the game from the foul line.
On the final play of the fourth quarter, Williams was fouled with just 0.8 seconds left.
The Boston player only had to hit one to give his team the victory – the Cavaliers had already exhausted their timeouts – but astonishingly he missed both and Smart also missed the tap on the buzzer.
Williams came into this game shooting 82.7% from free throws and had made 8 of his 10 attempts from the foul line in the last four games.
Already in overtime, the Celtics accused the casualties, the fatigue and the moral blow after having let the game escape in regulation time and the Cavaliers sang victory. EFE
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