Tatum leads Celtics past Cavs 113-98 to advance to East final

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 Wednesday night to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight season.

Al Horford added 22 points, 15 rebounds and six of the Celtics’ 19 3-pointers to earn their third straight series victory and earn a 4-1 victory. The Celtics will now wait for the winner of the match between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers. New York leads this series 3-2.

The Cavaliers played shorthanded without All-Star Donovan Mitchell (calf), center Jarrett Allen (rib) and key reserve Caris LeVert (knee).

Cleveland stayed close through the first three quarters and trailed 88-85 entering the fourth. The Celtics then went on a 13-2 run to take a 101-87 lead with 6:44 remaining.

Evan Mobley scored a career-high 33 points in the playoffs and pulled down seven rebounds. Marcus Morris Sr. made five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points.

Cleveland now enters a summer of uncertainty with the future of Mitchell and coach JB Bickerstaff in the spotlight.

Mitchell was everything for the Cavs in his second playoff run for Cleveland. He earned his fifth All-Star appearance in the regular season. He averaged 29.6 points in those playoffs, but didn’t play in either of the last two games.

The end of Mitchell’s tenure in Cleveland could potentially come in the same TD Garden arena where LeBron James played his final game with the Cavs before leaving for Miami in 2010.

Mitchell is eligible to sign a contract extension but has given no indication of whether he wants to stay or leave Cleveland.

Bickerstaff is completing his fourth full season as Cleveland’s coach. Including the 11 games he coached after taking over for John Beilein during the 2019-20 season, Bickerstaff is 170-159 with two playoff appearances.

Just as they did in Game 4 without Mitchell, the Cavs used the 3-point line to keep pace with the Celtics, scoring 8 of 19 in the first 24 minutes.

Cleveland started the second quarter connecting on 4 of 5 attempts from beyond the arc to go ahead 46-40. The Cavs also got solid minutes off the bench from Marcus Morris Sr., who scored 14 points in his first 12 minutes of action.

But Boston rallied and closed with an 18-6 run to take a 58-52 halftime lead.