Cavs fall to Celtics in rematch amid various injuries

Cavs lose second leg of back-to-back against Celtics

An underhanded Cleveland Cavaliers team simply ran out of ammunition in the rematch against the Boston Celtics, snapping their mini streak of back-to-back wins at home. The Cavs continued to scrap until the end but simply came up short, 98-92.

Ricky Rubio continued to ball out as he led all scorers with 28 points to go with six rebounds, but only had two assists despite nearly averaging seven a night coming into the game. Meanwhile, Cedi Osman scored a season-high 26 points off the Cavaliers bench in the loss.

Coming off a spirited comeback win over the same opponents just two nights ago, Cleveland went into the game with the confidence to pull off another victory over their struggling rivals but came up just short towards the end.

The Cavs actually started off on the driver’s seat, briefly leading by as much as 11 during the first half, until the Celtics capitalized on the absences and caught up to them in the final two periods.  Boston’s Al Horford had his way and finished with 17 points and nine boards, while Jayson Tatum had a much better outing than in the first meeting with 23 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

The road ahead only gets more dangerous for the Cavs

In some sort of reversal of fortunes, the Celtics had welcomed back Al Horford and Josh Richardson, while the Cavaliers ended up losing more players to various injuries.

Starting center Jarrett Allen was ruled out of the game with an undisclosed illness, joining Collin Sexton (meniscus), Kevin Love (reconditioning), and Lauri Markkanen (health and safety protocols) on the injured list. Even rookie Evan Mobley became a member of the unfortunate club in the second half.

Mobley was forced to step into Allen’s role but struggled mightily in his first game starting at the five for Cleveland. The current Rookie of the Year frontrunner only tallied a single point, but still made his presence felt with nine boards, five assists, and two blocks, before leaving the game in the fourth period due to what appears to be an elbow injury.

The absence of Allen went beyond Mobley’s struggles as the Cavs allowed Boston to score 42 points in the paint, while only tallying 28 themselves. Thanks in no part to the veteran Horford outplaying the Cavs rookie and the equally outmatched Dean Wade and Tacko Fall.

That marks a total of four Cavaliers starters out due to various reasons. While the team continues to do well on defense overall, they could definitely benefit from Love and Markkanen returning to action to help add a much-needed scoring boost. Cleveland should also hope for a swift comeback for Allen and Mobley, too.

A regression was always expected to come, especially given the circumstances. Both the tough schedule and injuries figure into that, and with matchups against juggernaut teams Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors looming, the struggles just might continue for the Cavs.

We will see how the young team responds in the face of adversity when they go on the road to face the Nets in Brooklyn on November 17.