Two days after snatching their qualification at the end of Game 7 against Orlando, the Riders were in Boston to start the conference semifinals. A difficult evening since the Celtics largely dominated the debates and took control in this series.
In addition to changing scenery and level, between Sunday and Tuesday, Cleveland players also change style. Because against the Magic, the defensive work was simplified by the absence of 3-point shooters and therefore skill (31% success behind the arc) on the Florida side. Against the Celtics, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White showed it: threats are everywhere and effective.
“It’s important that we mentally understand what’s in front of us. We've already played them. It's completely different because we protected the racket for seven matches, and now we have to go out on the players. And there are not two of them, but fifteen”, notes Donovan Mitchell. “They have several players who can hit, so it's no surprise: if it's not Jayson Tatum, it's Brown, or Al Horford, or White and Jrue Holiday. Not forgetting Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard. »
The league leaders in the regular season shot 18/46 at 3-points, or 39% success rate. It's already very good, but on a big night, Boston can still do better. The Cavaliers are warned: they will have to defend harder and better, and attack with more accuracy as well.
No more room for error
“We know where we are going,” explains the rear. “They took shots. We shot at 40% success and 26% at 3-points. When they take shots, you have to keep pushing, going for the rebound, to take them and break the rhythm. You have to do the little things. They will be crucial in this series. »
The Cavaliers simply no longer have any margin on defense. Boston has an attack that is too strong to make mistakes, forget players, leave shooters open.
Donovan Mitchell takes his example from the last sequence of the third quarter. “Payton Pritchard’s shot hurts. I tried my luck at 3-points and gave five more seconds to play. He brought the ball up, sent up a prayer and we found ourselves fifteen points behind. It changes the whole game”he says.
“We have to continue to go into the paint, to create the game. We had some good shots, which we missed,” insists the former Jazz player to give himself hope. “We took 40 winning shots, for 11 successes. We got the shots. Now the most important thing is to put them on. It's a strong team, they're going to shoot and set the pace. We will have the shots, we have to put them in. »
