Cavaliers crash back to earth as Celtics grab 2-1 lead in NBA playoffs series

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers continued to ride the NBA roller coaster Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics.

After prevailing by 24 points Thursday on the road, the fourth-seeded Cavs came crashing back down to earth and fell 106-93 to the top-seeded Celtics in Game 3 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Now the inconsistent Cavs trail 2-1 in their best-of-seven, second-round NBA playoff series. Game 4 is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Monday in Cleveland.

All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 33 points on 12-of-22 shooting (54.5%) from the field (7 of 12 on 3-pointers). Center Evan Mobley added 17 points and eight rebounds.

However, the Cavs didn't receive the collective offensive production they needed to keep up with the Celtics.

All-Star forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 33 and 28 points, respectively, pacing the heavily favored Celtics, who rolled to a 120-95 home win in Game 1 before losing 118-94 in Game 2 at TD Garden. Point guard Jrue Holiday added 18 points for Boston.

As a team, the Cavs shot 36 of 84 (42.9%) from the field (12 of 36 on 3-pointers). The Celtics shot 41 of 80 (51.3%) from the floor (13 of 34 on 3-pointers).

The Cavs trailed the Celtics 57-48 at halftime and then allowed a 14-0 Boston run to start the second half. Cleveland fell behind 71-48 with 9:06 left in the third quarter.

Adding injury to insult, Mobley experienced an awkward landing while pursuing a rebound and appeared to aggravate a sprained ankle he has been pushing through with about 9:22 left in the third quarter. Mobley began limping and checked out of the game with 8:49 left in the third quarter.

The Cavs cut their 23-point deficit to 12 later in the third quarter, and Mobley returned to the game with 2:26 left in the third. Cleveland faced an 84-69 deficit entering the fourth quarter, but point guard Darius Garland made a layup and Mobley added a dunk and a putback to begin the fourth quarter with a 6-0 Cleveland run. The Cavs repeatedly trimmed the Celtics' lead to nine points in the final quarter but never got closer to completing a comeback.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On X: @ByNateUlrich.