Boston complete a 4-1 series win over Cleveland with a 113-98 win before Dallas beat Oklahoma City 104-92.
Dallas Mavericks’ guard Luka Doncic shoots a three-point basket against Oklahoma City Thunder [Alonzo Adams/USA Today Sports via Reuters]
Published On 16 May 2024
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The Boston Celtics overpowered the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 to reach a third straight Eastern Conference finals as Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City moved to the brink of elimination after crashing 104-92 at home to Dallas.
Jayson Tatum’s 25 points helped the Celtics subdue an injury-hit Cavs lineup to complete a 4-1 win in the best-of-seven series in Boston on Wednesday.
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But while Boston continued their progress, Oklahoma City’s playoff campaign is hanging by a thread after their damaging defeat to Dallas.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic led from the front with a triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Mavs lead the series 3-2 and can clinch a place in the Western Conference finals with victory in Game 6 back in Dallas on Saturday.
“We just got one more to win out of two games, and that’s it,” Doncic said. “It’s 3-2, but that’s nothing. We’ve got to finish it and go with the same mentality.”
Doncic had been furious after the Mavs surrendered the initiative in a Game 4 loss in Texas on Sunday, but said a more relaxed approach had been the key to Wednesday’s commanding effort.
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“Sometimes I forget that I love to play basketball, it’s the thing I do,” Doncic said. “My mental focus was just to go out there with a smile on my face and play basketball.”
Doncic was given offensive support from Derrick Jones Jr with 19 points, while three other players made double figures.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder scorers with 30 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
‘Battle-tested’ Celtics want to go all the way
Earlier, Cleveland’s hopes of clawing their way back into their series with Boston were rocked before the game after confirmation that three of their top six players – Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert – were out with injuries.
But Cleveland shrugged off that setback to produce a battling performance that saw them get within three points of the Celtics midway through the fourth quarter.
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Evan Mobley was superb for Cleveland, pouring in a game-high 33 points while Marcus Morris Sr added 25 off the bench.
Yet just when Celtics fans at the TD Garden were nervously wondering if a shock defeat was on the cards, Boston stitched together a decisive 13-2 run – crowned by a three-pointer from Tatum – that left them ahead by 14 points at 101-87.
Tatum, who also added 10 rebounds and nine assists, said Boston had prepared for a dogfight despite Cleveland’s injury-stricken lineup.
“Anybody who’s played in this league understands what happens when somebody’s best players are out,” Tatum said. “The rest of the guys have more freedom, they play with a different level of confidence and they play different.
“Our mindset coming into this game was, ‘However long it takes, that’s how long it takes’. We didn’t expect to win the game in the first or second quarter. We grinded it out.”
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Tatum said Boston were now determined to snap their dismal recent record in the Eastern Conference finals. Boston have lost in the Eastern Conference finals in four of five appearances since the 2016-17 season.
“Each year presents different challenges,” Tatum said. “Myself and the rest of the crew have been to the conference finals something like four or five times.
“We’re battle-tested. We know what it takes. We just have to put the individual things aside and try and get over that hump.”
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum celebrates with a fan after the Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals [Charles Krupa/AP]
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