Not since LeBron James wore a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform has there been a true rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Cavs, but you know what? Cleveland has arrived. These aren’t last season’s Cavaliers, the still developing group of 20-somethings that relied way too much on Donovan Mitchell. Even in defeat, a frenetic, wildly entertaining 120–117 loss that ended the Cavs’ season-opening 15-game winning streak, Cleveland served notice: This team is for real.
What a game. For a while, it didn’t look like it was going to be one. The Celtics, well, Celtics-ed early. They canned five threes in the first quarter and nine in the second. They held Cleveland to 43.2% shooting in the first half and 28.6% from three. Darius Garland was missing gimmes. Evan Mobley was bricking threes. At halftime, one team looked like a defending champion. The other looked (again) like second-round fodder.
