Jaylen Brown and Derrick White combined for 57 points as the Boston Celtics scored a dominant 120-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven NBA playoff series on Tuesday.
The No.1 seeds, chasing a record-breaking 18th NBA championship, were always in control against their fourth-seeded Eastern Conference rivals, holding a double-digit lead through the second half to close out an emphatic win at the TD Garden.
Brown led the scoring for Boston with 32 points, six rebounds and two assists while the in-form White caught the eye with a 25-point haul that included seven three-pointers.
Jayson Tatum added 18 points but had an off-night shooting-wise, making just 7-of-19 from the field.
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Donovan Mitchell led the scoring for Cleveland with 33 points, with Evan Mobley adding 17 and Darius Garland 14.
Brown said the Celtics’ defence had laid the foundation for the win.
“It starts with defence, we wanted to set the tone on defence and we kept them under 100 (points),” Brown told TNT television.
“But we feel like we’ve got an answer for everything so we just play the game the right way, and see what they want to take away and then we play after that.
“You just want to make the defence convert and we’ve got some great three-point shooters; that’s kind of my job. I take it on myself to get to the paint and that opens it up for our shooters.”
Asked about White’s performance, Brown added: “If you don’t know Derrick White you better get to know him. He’s been balling, and he’s just getting started.”
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Boston got off to a flying start, jumping out to an early 12-2 first quarter lead before a Cleveland rally saw them edge into a 23-21 lead after Mitchell’s running three-pointer.
But Boston responded swiftly, reclaiming the lead immediately and never allowing Cleveland to get their noses in front thereafter.
After taking a 10-point lead into halftime, Boston kept the pressure up in the second half, stretching out to a 26-point lead in the fourth quarter as they romped to a comfortable win.
Game two in the series takes place in Boston on Thursday.
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