Cavs receive reality check from full-strength Celtics on playoff ...

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers are a contender, but the full-strength Celtics showed Tuesday night the road from the Eastern Conference to the NBA Finals still runs through Boston.

Whatever regular-season lapses the defending champion Celtics have suffered hardly carry any weight, not after the Cavs lost to them 112-105 during a potential Eastern Conference Finals preview televised nationally by TNT.

For the first time, the Celtics had All-Star forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, guard Derrick White and center Kristaps Porzingis in a meeting with the Cavs. When the Celtics defeated the Cavs 4-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, Porzingis was sidelined with an injury for the entire series. And earlier this season, Brown, White and Porzingis each missed one of the first two showdowns between the Celtics and Cavs.

The Eastern Conference-leading Cavs (40-10) are 1-2 against the second-place Celtics (36-15) this season and now have a much better idea about what's required to conquer Boston after receiving the total experience. Nothing about it is easy, and the degree of difficulty will only increase in the playoffs.

The good news for the Cavs is they're capable of playing much better than they did Tuesday.

They had a dreadful shooting night, tying a season-low 39.6% from the field, and trailed by as many as 20 points in the second quarter. They cut their deficit to four points on All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell's three-point play with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, but White drained three consecutive jump shots, including two 3-pointers, giving the Celtics the requisite cushion.

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Among the warnings Cleveland must take seriously is it can't afford to fall into such a deep hole. The Cavs can rally and threaten late, like they did against the Celtics, but the energy they expend to charge back usually runs out before the job can be completed. A similar pattern emerged Jan. 22 and 25 in losses to the Houston Rockets.

Speaking of those setbacks, the Cavs have the following records against opponents positioned in the top four of the Eastern and Western Conference standings:

• 1-2 vs. the Celtics (36-15, second in the East)
• 1-0 against the New York Knicks (34-17, third in the East)
• 1-1 against the Indiana Pacers (28-21, fourth in the East)
• 1-1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder (39-9, first in the West)
• 0-2 against the Rockets (32-18, third in the West)
• 2-0 against the Denver Nuggets (31-19, fourth in the West)

The combined record is 6-6.

"You definitely look at it and say, 'Man, kind of globally, why haven't we performed better against the elite teams?'" Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Answers were not hard to identify against the Celtics.

The Cavs lacked intensity early in the game and scored just 15 points in the first quarter.

All-Star forward Evan Mobley had a dismal outing in an otherwise stellar season, scoring seven points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field (0 for 4 on 3-pointers) and grabbing five rebounds with two assists in 28 minutes.

"The biggest thing is how do you respond and how do you learn?" said Mitchell, who scored a game-high 31 points and collected 10 rebounds with six assists. "I have no doubt that he'll respond to be who he's been all year."

The Cavs fell to 4-7 this season when they make fewer 3-pointers than their opponent. They went 11-of-39 shooting (28.2%) on 3s. Atkinson considered the shot quality subpar, and center Jarrett Allen conceded "as we got frustrated missing shots, we started to try to force things a little bit." It's not exactly a sound strategy.

The Celtics weren't lights out on offense, though. They went 40-of-98 shooting (40.8%) from the field, including 17-of-48 shooting on 3s (35.4%).

"It was really our offense that really, really hurt us," Atkinson said. "Lack of shot making. Didn't think the ball movement was great. We didn't have our normal pace. Cutting was pretty much nonexistent."

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Offensive struggles with Mobley and Allen (17 points and 18 rebounds) on the court together prompted Atkinson to play the big men separately, and Porzingis gave the Cavs trouble on both ends of the floor. He posted 19 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals to complement Tatum (22 points), Brown (16 points) and White (20 points). Allen, who was sidelined with a broken rib for the entire Cavs-Celtics series in May, admitted Cleveland is still learning how to guard Porzingis.

On defense, the Cavs were hindered by discipline and communication issues. With forwards Dean Wade (right knee bone bruise) and Isaac Okoro (sprained AC joint in right shoulder) still idle, Cleveland is missing its best two perimeter defenders. The Cavs switched less than they normally do on screens, and Atkinson lamented not using more zone.

Adjustments must be made because the Celtics just reminded the basketball world they aren't going to disappear amid a title defense.

The 2024-25 Cavs are guaranteed one more shot at the reigning champs Feb. 28 in Boston. Consider it another valuable checkpoint because the two teams are on a postseason collision course.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.