The Celtics achieved their main goal, but failed to overcome their bad habits

Celtics

Monday night’s game was a fight, going down to the late rounds when the selectively ruthless Celtics should have knocked off the Cavaliers early.

CLEVELAND – The magnitude of the Celtics’ goal became clear when word got out about an hour before kickoff that a calf injury would keep Cavaliers dynamo Donovan Mitchell out of the game. Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Win the game, first and foremost. Of course not, that’s all that matters at the moment.

The Celtics checked the “win” box with a 109-102 decision Monday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. They hold a 3-1 lead as the series returns to TD Garden on Wednesday. They are exactly where they should be.

But given the greater challenges ahead, some relevant additives have been attached to this fundamental objective.

Do not joke. Don’t let yourself be contaminated by discomfort, casualness or arrogance. Don’t let the underequipped Cavaliers linger. Don’t give hope to a team that shouldn’t have any.

Not all of these have been checked.

The Celtics didn’t necessarily need to prove that an important lesson had been learned, that they would no longer stoop to the level of a lesser or weakened opponent.

But that would have added another level of encouragement as we can’t resist waiting for a matchup with the fierce defending champion Nuggets, the young and hungry Timberwolves, or another opponent that matches the abundance of Celtics talent in upcoming games. The kind of teams that take advantage of the opponent’s lack of concentration or intensity every time.

Instead, the Cavaliers gave the Celtics a fight. It’s not necessarily a scare, even if the Cavaliers, led by Darius Garland’s 30 points and some early 3-pointers reminiscent of the Heat’s long-range barrage in Game 2 of the first round, only trailed 102-97 with 1 minute and 55 seconds left. LEFT.

But it was a fight, one that went down to the late rounds when the selectively ruthless Celtics should have knocked out the Cavaliers early.

It’s important for the Celtics, in this tense and exhilarating (but mostly tense) quest to win an 18^th banner, to prove they can win close games with composure and execution at the end.

They certainly won a close game, and they executed well on Monday, with Jaylen Brown’s 3-pointer with 1 minute, 8 seconds left giving the Celtics some breathing room at 105-97. “I don’t think anyone there can really guard me,” he said after his 27-point performance, slightly reduced due to his 1-to-5 assist ratio.

But this one shouldn’t have been close. One could even argue that the Celtics’ performance in this series after losing Game 2 by 24 points on their home court is a slight step down from what they achieved against the Heat, when they won Games 3 through 5 with an average of 23.3 points. .

This is not to downplay the good work that many Celtics contributed to Monday night. Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, including 16 in the first quarter, propelling the Celtics to a 37-30 lead after 12 minutes.

Brown, who drew the ire of Cleveland fans in the second quarter after shooting at Max Strus’ leg after they tangled, appeared fired up by the boos, scoring 16 of his points in the second half.

And what else is there to say about Jrue Holiday other than, “Oh, that’s right, this guy knows exactly what it takes to win a championship.” » Holiday had his second consecutive superb overall performance, scoring 16 points (including four 3s), grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, while adding 3 steals and a block.

Tatum and Brown may have combined for 60 points, but Holiday was the Celtics’ best player from start to finish Monday night.

He said afterward that the Celtics weren’t surprised by the Cavaliers’ competitiveness, even without their driving force, Mitchell.

“We know they’re not going to come out and lay down,” he said. “We expected this, we kind of wanted it.”

The win was the Celtics’ first by single digits in the playoffs. They should have taken care of business earlier in the game. But at least they did it in the end, and going by Holiday’s quote, maybe they think that — beating a shorthanded team with a lot of spirit — counts as valuable experience.

The performance doesn’t answer all of our questions, but beats the alternative — a loss that would have left us asking for even more.

The Celtics’ next goal is also obvious. Close the series on the floor in Game 5 Wednesday night.

The Celtics should have no interest in returning to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for a sixth game, where the number of annoyances — a desperately needy public address announcer with laryngitis, fire shots from the scoreboard, lasers and Tristan Thompson — are astonishing.

It’s like the fans came here for the t-shirt raffle and a basketball game broke out in the background.

There is no other reason to deal with this noise and nonsense. Don’t give Mitchell a chance to leave the coaching table and become a hero.

Finish this series in five, convincingly, and make some real, welcome progress by convincing us that the Celtics’ best habits will outweigh their bad ones when the stakes are highest.