Regular season review of Cavaliers-Celtics

Boston knows the Cavaliers well after facing them three times in the regular season, winning both home games but dropping the last matchup at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The first game was on December 12, when the Cavs came to Boston for a two-game mini-series which started with a 120-113 defeat.

Boston was led by their Big 3, combining for 71 points (Jayson Tatum: 25, Jaylen Brown: 25, Kristaps Porzingis: 21). But Boston trailed for most of the first half as the Cavs got out to a 15-2 start. The Celtics offense struggled earlier as Brown scored 10 of the team's first 12 points with the other two points coming from Porzingis free throws.

Despite the hot shooting from Cleveland, Boston only trailed by one at halftime (60-59) after an offensive surge led by Tatum, Brown, and Payton Pritchard.

Both teams couldn't miss in the second half. It was an offensive masterclass from both sides, at a time when Boston's defense was touted as one of the best in the league.

Late in the fourth quarter, a Tatum pull-up three gave the Celtics a seven-point lead which grew to 10 with around two minutes left after a Derrick White corner three all but sealed the game.

The Cavs were led by Donovan Mitchell who scored 29 points. Mitchell was on fire to start the game and had 27 points entering the fourth quarter, but the Celtics defense eventually found its groove and put a halt to his scoring.

Less than 48 hours later, the Celtics and Cavs were back on the parquet for its second meeting of the season. Just like in the first game, the Cavs were without their terrific shot-blocker, Evan Mobley.

Boston came out of the gates strong with Tatum having his assist hat on, finding numerous teammates early and often as the C's got out to a stronger start than they did last time out.

Mitchell, again, was on fire out of the blocks leading all scorers after the first quarter with 12 points. However, it was the Celtics who boasted a nine-point lead going into the second quarter.

Boston increased its lead to 11 (65-54) at halftime thanks to shooting over 47% from deep in the half. Mitchell continued to pace the Cavs with 21 points, while Brown (18 points) and Porzingis (15) carried Boston's offense.

The Cavs offense stayed in the game thanks to Caris LeVert scoring 15 of his 26 points in the third quarter. Darius Garland would hit a three to close the third quarter and cut Boston's lead to three (90-87) to start the fourth quarter.

The Celtics got their lead back to double digits twice in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs remained persistent and kept clawing their way back into the game. Again, with under two minutes to go, the Celtics just like they did in its first matchup, locked in on defense, getting multiple stops down the stretch. Not only did Boston get the stops they needed, but it was Tatum who made them pay on the other end making timely baskets to put the game away 116-107, to make it 2-0 against the Cavs.

Unfortunately for the Celtics, the Cavs grabbed the final regular season showdown back in Cleveland on March 5. The D-Wade Show — not that D-Wade, but Dean Wade.

Before we get to Wade going supernova, it's important to note entering this game Boston had won 11 straight games and were firing on all cylinders.

Although Boston only shot 42% in the first half, they held a 55-45 lead. The Cavs fought back in the third quarter, but it was Boston who added to its lead to hold a 16-point advantage (87-71) entering the fourth quarter.

The Celtics led 91-71 with 9:14 left in the game.

Enter Dean Wade.

Wade went nuclear in the fourth quarter scoring 20 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to fuel a ferocious comeback.

A Georges Niang three tied the game at 99 with under four minutes to go. Then another three from Wade gave Cleveland the lead and capped off a 23-4 run.

After a Porzingis and-1, the Celtics led by one with less than 40 seconds to play.

Wade found a wide-open lane for a putback dunk with 19 seconds left in the game to retake the lead 105-104.

With Garland on him, Tatum went for a fadeaway jumper for the potential game-winner. Tatum missed the shot but the referee called a foul on Garland to give the Celtics a chance to win it at the line with 0.7 seconds left.

Unfortunately for Boston, the play was reviewed and overturned and the Cavs went on to win.

Luckily for Boston, getting past the Heat in five games allowed extra rest while the Magic and Cavs exchanged haymakers for seven games.