There were a lot of things Boston did right in this game: Great defense, particularly in the first half, taking Cleveland out of its flow and keeping the ball on one side of the court; Jayson Tatum scoring 33; Al Horford hanging with the two big men the Cavaliers roll out and coming up with crucial blocks late.
However, the Celtics won for a far more simple reason: They made 22 3-pointers and shot 53.7% from deep. Boston shot 14-of-22 (65.2%) on 3-pointers in the first half. For the game, core Celtics Tatum, Horford, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard combined to shoot 20-of-32 from beyond the arc.
CELTICS GET IT DONE WITH THE 3-BALL 🔥☘️ 22 3-pointers made☘️ 22/41 (53.7%)☘️ Only the third instance in NBA history of a team making 20+ 3-pointers in 3 or more consecutive games pic.twitter.com/AZcuvRZX1Z
— NBA (@NBA) November 20, 2024
When Boston shoots like that from 3 it becomes a math game and no other team can keep up…