Boston — Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third straight season with a 113-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Al Horford added 22 points, 15 rebounds and six of Boston’s 19 3-pointers in a 4-1 win for its third straight series win. The Celtics now await the winner of the showdown between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. New York leads the series 3-2.
The Cavaliers played an extremely short game without All-Star Donovan Mitchell (calf), center Jarrett Allen (ribs) and key reserve Caris LeVert (knee).
Cleveland had a close game until the third quarter of the first half, and fell behind 88-85 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Boston went on a 13-2 run to take a 101-87 lead with 6:44 to play.
Evan Mobley had a playoff career-high 33 points and seven rebounds. Senior Marcus Morris hit five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points.
Cleveland now faces a summer of uncertainty with the future of Mitchell and coach JB Bickerstaff in the spotlight.
Mitchell became everything for the Cavs in his second postseason in Cleveland. He earned his fifth All-Star appearance in the regular season. He averaged 29.6 points in these playoffs but sat out the final two games.
Mitchell’s tenure in Cleveland could end at TD Garden Stadium, where LeBron James played his last game with the Cavs before leaving for Miami in 2010.
Mitchell is eligible to sign a contract extension, but he has made no indication that he wants to stay or leave Cleveland.
Bickerstaff is completing his fourth full season as Cleveland’s coach. Including the 11 games he coached in place of John Beilein during the 2019-20 season, Bickerstaff is 170-159 with two playoff appearances.
As they did in Game 4 without Mitchell, the Cavs used the 3-point line to keep pace with the Celtics, scoring 8 of their 19 points in the opening 24 minutes.
Cleveland connected on four of five attempts from beyond the arc to open the second quarter ahead 46-40. The Cavs also got solid minutes off the bench from Marcus Morris Sr., who scored 14 points in the first 12 minutes.
But Boston closed with an 18-6 run to take a 58-52 lead into the half.
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