Four Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Beat Cavs, Win Fourth Straight

The Boston Celtics faced their biggest test since entering 2025 in the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

Cleveland stepped in winners of its last four while Boston road into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on a three-game winning streak. The best two teams in the conference went mano a mano, and the marquee battle all began with a first-quarter bang when Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell hammered a poster dunk over Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis to set the tone.

Boston matched Cleveland’s energy and determination and made it out victorious. The Celtics improved their record to 36-15 before returning home.

Here are four studs and three duds from Boston’s 112-105 win over the Cavaliers:

STUDS
Jayson Tatum
Boston’s leader came through with an all-around solid and effective performance.

Tatum scored 22 points, and although the six-time All-Star wasn’t efficient from 3-point range (3-of-11), he maintained his poise. Tatum recorded seven assists, two steals and two blocks, including a critical steal with 22.1 seconds left in regulation to extend Boston’s lead from four points to a 110-104 advantage.

Donovan Mitchell
Cleveland’s franchise star rose to the occasion with a performance that’ll keep Boston on notice for what might come once the playoffs commence.

Mitchell unleashed his competitive firepower on the Celtics, scoring a game-leading 31 points with 10 rebounds and six assists. The 28-year-old shot 12-of-25 from the field, connected on four 3-pointers and tallied two steals in the playoff-like performance to keep the Cavaliers in the running amid a nail-biting finish.

Derrick White
In the fourth quarter, White erupted and took ownership of the floor.

White scored 14 of his 20 points in the final frame, knocking down four 3-pointers to help seal Boston’s victory. The 30-year-old finished the night connecting on six 3-point attempts with five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Boston’s first-half defense
Sure, the Celtics allowed their 20-point lead to shrink before the halftime buzzer went off, but the defense was elite.

Boston got physical, guarded the rim and guarded the perimeter. Cleveland shot a horrendous 16.7% from three in the first half, knocking down only 3-of-18 attempts while also committing seven turnovers. Tatum and Porzingis combined for four of the team’s five blocks through the first two frames as the Cavaliers scored a season-low 44 points on a subpar 30% shooting from the field.

That pressure set the tone early and kept Cleveland in check.

DUDS
Max Strus
Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson gave Strus, a well-known Celtics enemy, the starting nod and that move didn’t pay off.

Strus played 29 minutes and mostly got some cardio in as the 28-year-old scored two points, attempted four shots and grabbed six rebounds. Cleveland’s shooting guard also tried to antagonize Porzingis after racking up consecutive fouls, claiming the 7-footer was flopping to the officials — a plea that went nowhere.

Georges Niang
The 31-year-old Massachusetts native went face-to-face with karma.

Niang drew a foul from Brown when the four-time All-Star tried to flush a dunk in the third quarter over the Cleveland forward. Brown fell short and was charged with a technical foul from the bench, but that made up most of Niang’s contributions.

Niang scored six points in 25 minutes off the bench, logging a minus-13 rating. He also paid the price for grabbing Brown’s leg two years ago in Game 7 of the conference semifinals when Niang was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jrue Holiday
The defensive-minded guard continued his struggling offensive stretch, and this time, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla took action.

Holiday scored just six points on 1-of-6 shooting with six rebounds and two steals. However, the eight-year veteran’s inability to get going on the offensive side of the floor prompted Mazzulla to call upon Payton Pritchard — who scored nine points off the bench — to take over and replace Holiday in the game’s closing minutes.