BOSTON — The clash of the Eastern Conference’s two best teams should be fun, but the ever-competitive Payton Pritchard will not draw any additional excitement Tuesday night from the Cavaliers’ unblemished record.
“It don’t matter if they’re 0-15,” Pritchard said. “I’m gonna come with the same mentality.”
For most others who care about the Celtics, the Cavaliers or basketball in general, the showdown shouldn’t feel like just another game. Though the stakes will be higher as part of the NBA Cup group stage, the matchup itself will separate this as one of the premier games of the early season. It will be the first time a defending champion has ever met a 15-0 opponent or better. Heck, only three teams before the Cavaliers have ever opened a season with a winning streak of at least that many games. Only the 2015-16 Warriors, who won their first 24 games, have started a season with a longer winning streak than Cleveland’s.
“They’re just playing at a high level right now for sure,” Joe Mazzulla said of the Cavaliers.
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No team has played at a higher level to date. Over the first month of the season, the Celtics and Cavaliers have been the class of the disappointing Eastern Conference. While other expected contenders like the 76ers and Bucks have crashed for various reasons, Cleveland has clicked under new coach Kenny Atkinson. The Cavaliers have climbed from 16th in offensive efficiency to first while shooting 41.9 percent on 3-point attempts. Up and down the roster, Cleveland has benefited from much-needed developments. Evan Mobley has progressed. His frontcourt pairing with Jarrett Allen, clunky last season, has thrived so far. Darius Garland has bounced back from a bumpy season. With him and Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt, the Cavaliers have two elite playmakers. Behind them, Caris LeVert has been more efficient than ever. The Cleveland bench, nothing special before, has become one of the league’s best second units. Playing faster and with quick decision-makers throughout the roster, the Cavaliers have transformed since falling to the Celtics in the second round last season.
“They’re a really good team,” said Pritchard. “They’ve got a lot of good guards, good length. I feel like their bigs are playing well, obviously their guards are All-Star-level guards. So, it’s gonna be a good matchup. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be competitive, and hopefully the Boston crowd comes out tomorrow.”
The Celtics didn’t face the Cavaliers at full strength during the playoffs. A rib injury sidelined Allen for each of the five games in the series. Mitchell only played in the first three games. Dean Wade only played in the last three. Ty Jerome, who has emerged as a key bench piece, never appeared in the series after missing almost the entire season. But the biggest change in Cleveland this season hasn’t necessarily been who is playing, but how the whole team is playing.
“They’ve got a lot of talent, but I think some of the small tweaks that they’ve made in their cutting, their crashing and then just their ability to shoot the ball (have made a difference),” Mazzulla said. “And then their defensive versatility too.”
The Celtics haven’t struggled much either. At 11-3, they’re on pace to win 64 games again though Kristaps Porziņģis (left posterior Tibialis tendon surgery rehabilitation) has yet to play. Still, they have dealt with some recent regression on defense, especially in their rim protection. After an overtime win against the Raptors on Sunday, Jaylen Brown said the Celtics will examine the flaw and adjust because they “definitely don’t want to just keep giving up layup after layup after layup.” Mazzulla, asked about the same issue, said the team most needs to improve its individual defense and rebounding.
“We’ve just gotta guard the ball, and we’ve gotta rebound as a team,” Mazzulla said.
Sam Hauser added that the Celtics need to play harder. After winning a championship, motivation will be harder for them to come by some nights. They have to create that energy for themselves in many games, but shouldn’t have that problem on Tuesday. The Celtics players should savor the chance to hand the Cavaliers their first defeat.
“They’re good, man,” said Hauser. “I just think they have a very similar group, and I think just having another year of chemistry and continuity together under your belt is important. And for them, it’s looked really good to this point, but we’re excited to try to put a loss in their loss column.”
More excitement could be coming for the Celtics soon. The team announced Porziņģis reached a new milestone in his recovery from offseason surgery Monday, when he was assigned to the G League to practice with the Maine Celtics. After practicing with them, he was expected to be recalled by the Boston Celtics to continue the next phase of his rehabilitation process. Porziņģis had previously been limited on the court. As recently as Friday, Mazzulla said the big man could do reads with coaches and 5-on-0 drills, but implied Porziņģis had not progressed to anything beyond that. Even before being able to practice in full, the 7-foot-2 center reminded Jrue Holiday of his unusual gifts while participating in a defensive drill on Friday.
“I’m looking forward to him coming back,” Holiday said. “Even just doing little drills here with him (Friday), he just makes the game so much easier with his length, being able to protect the rim. And then, obviously, offensively he just makes the game so much easier for everybody. Creating space for driving lanes or 3-point shots. Not being able to switch off of him or when he gets a switch, him being able to take advantage of that. Can’t wait for him to come back.”
Porziņģis has been ruled out of Tuesday’s game, and Pritchard (left thumb sprain) is considered questionable. Their teammates should all be available against the Cavaliers. The game will technically be a playoff rematch, but Cleveland has looked like a new team. The Celtics, who need to beat the Cavaliers to have a chance of advancing to the elimination stage of the NBA Cup, should also want to send a reminder of their power to an Eastern Conference challenger.
“I feel like that’s an every night type of thing,” Hauser said. “I feel like we’ve gotten everybody’s best shot to this point, and we have to be better at understanding that that’s just kind of what we brought onto ourselves. And that’s how we want it, that’s what we ask for. We’re just gonna try to do what we do, play our game, put the records aside. At the end of the day, it’s just another ball game, so we’re going to do whatever we can to win.”
(Photo of Cleveland’s Darius Garland and Boston’s Jayson Tatum in last season’s playoffs: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
