Virtuoso performances from the Celtics’ cornerstone co-stars weren’t enough to upend the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jayson Tatum (46 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, three blocks) and Jaylen Brown (37 points, five rebounds, two assists) both were tremendous Friday night at a raucous TD Garden. But Boston got little from the duo’s supporting cast and blew a 22-point lead in a 123-116 loss to the streaking Cavs.

Derrick White added 16 points, five assists and three steals. The rest of the Celtics’ roster combined for 17 points as Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell (41 points) and Evan Mobley (17 points, 12 rebounds) took the game over after halftime.

The Eastern Conference front-runners split their four-game season series two games apiece, with all four decided by seven points or fewer.

The Celtics were missing two starters with Jrue Holiday (mallet finger) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) both unavailable, while Cleveland had its full rotation available. Holiday wore a split on his right pinky finger while he watched from Boston’s bench. Head coach Joe Mazzulla said the guard will return once he can “manage the pain,” suggesting Holiday’s injury is likely to linger.

Boston ambushed the NBA pole-sitters from the opening tip, hitting their first four shots to take an 11-0 lead and trigger a swift timeout from Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson. Evan Mobley got Cleveland on the board moments later, but the Celtics proceeded to score on seven of their next nine possessions while holding the Cavs to a single free throw.

Before the halfway point of the first quarter, the Celtics led 25-3 and Atkinson had expended a pair of timeouts.

White tallied as many steals as Cleveland had points during that rocket-powered start. Brown hit two 3-pointers after going a combined 4-for-21 over his previous four games. Boston started 9-for-12 from the field and 7-for-9 from three — and scored second-chance buckets off two of its misses.

Atkinson’s second stoppage had the desired effect, as Ty Jerome and Cleveland’s bench ignited a 20-7 Cavs run that halved the Celtics lead. Tatum’s and-one layup over Mobley and buzzer-beating midrange stepback put Boston ahead 38-26 at the end of one.

Tatum’s first-quarter stat line resembled a quality game for most players: 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block. No other NBA player has posted those totals in an opening frame in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97). Brown added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Cleveland continued its comeback in the second quarter. A 9-0 run capped by a De’Andre Hunter 3-pointer whittled Boston’s lead from 22 points to three. But back-to-back threes from White and more brilliance from Tatum halted that advance before the Cavs could pull ahead. Tatum drove for a layup, hit two threes — including one he banked in off the backboard — and set up Al Horford for another as Boston stretched its lead back to double digits.

The Celtics led 74-64 at halftime, with Tatum, Brown and White combining for 60 of those points and Tatum scoring 30 himself (plus nine rebounds and seven assists — another line that’s never been matched in the play-by-play era). The Cavaliers leaned on their aforementioned bench, which outscored Boston’s 28-3 in the first half while going 7-for-8 from deep.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla tightened his rotation with Holiday and Porzingis out, giving only Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard substantial minutes off the bench. Pritchard (2-for-4, six points) was the only Boston reserve to attempt a shot in the game. He was a minus-34 in the game; Kornet was a minus-26.

Brown’s physicality fueled the Celtics’ early in the third quarter, drawing two fouls and scrapping for two putbacks. Brown grabbed four offensive rebounds in his first 22 minutes of floor time and either scored or drew a foul after all four. Foul trouble forced Brown to the bench five minutes after halftime, however, as he picked up his fourth while fighting for an offensive board.

While Brown sat, Mitchell caught fire late in the third, just as he did in both Celtics-Cavs matchups in Cleveland. The perennial All-Star scored 10 straight points to cut Boston’s lead to one. Mobley pulled the Cavaliers even at 100-100 a minute into the fourth, then hit a three over Kornet to give his team its first lead of the night.

Cleveland built a six-point cushion, which Boston then erased with a Tatum dunk, a Brown layup and a contested Brown jumper in the lane. But the Cavs pulled away in the final minutes by targeting Hauser, who typically is not part of the closing lineup when the Celtics are at full strength.

Mitchell beat the fill-in wing for an and-one layup, and Garland shook him on a stepback jumper that all but iced the game with 55.1 seconds remaining.

Originally Published: February 28, 2025 at 10:05 PM EST