The Boston Celtics revive, the Cleveland Cavaliers continue

The reaction: the Celtics breathe easier

Joe Mazzulla, coach of the Boston Celtics, hoped that his team’s bad pass would be useful to him after the defeat conceded on the night of Monday to Tuesday on the floor of the Cleveland Cavaliers (114-118 ap), the third in a row : “For me, to know success, you have to know failures. I don’t like to lose, but I accept it. You have to go through it to get where you want to go. » On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, his team finally returned to success.

Faced with Portland Trail Blazers in bad shape, 12th in the Western Conference despite an omnipresent Damian Lillard (27 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds), the Celtics got their hands on the game very early, from the middle of the first quarter- time, and were able to rely in particular on Jayson Tatum, left to rest at the start of the week, author of 30 points (including 6 winning shots) at 11/17 in shooting.

The five holders, side Boston, scored 10 points or more (White 21, Horford 17, Brown 11, Smart 10), like Sam Hauser (11) and the playing times were well distributed. Result: a clear victory and the second lowest total points conceded this season (115-93).

“I guess you could say it’s a breath of fresh air, conceded Al Horfordthe pivot of the last NBA finalists, after the game. I don’t like to lose, but it was important before I hit the road again. We lost a couple of home games that we felt we were in control of, so I’m happy with the team. We won, which was important: now we can hit the road and continue to build on these bases. »

The series: third success for the Cleveland Cavaliers

Beyond qualifying for the play-offs, the Cleveland Cavaliers are engaged in a race for the first four places, in order to secure a possible home advantage in April. On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, against the Miami Heat, they won a fourth game out of the last five (104-100).

A trompe-l’oeil score: Darius Garland’s teammates (25 points) were unable to finish the job when they were leading by twelve points in the middle of the third quarter (78-66) and ended up seeing the Floridians pick up at the very end of the match (98-97 with 2’44” remaining). A final rebound from Jarrett Allen, his twelfth of the evening (15 points), allowed the Cavs to breathe.