Cavaliers take Game 2 118-94

Evan Mobley starred as the Cavs evened up the series against Boston.

The Cleveland Cavaliers played their best game in what feels like months with their 118-94 Game 2 win over the Boston Celtics.

Nightly Notables

Evan Mobley was arguably the best player on the floor in Game 2. Mobley’s 21-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist, 2-block night saw him control the middle of the floor on both ends. He looked as comfortable as he’s ever looked at center in the win.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 29 points. All five Cavs starters finished in double figures. And with 21 points, Caris LeVert outscored the entire Celtics bench by himself.

Well, that happened

A small thing, but a small thing that tells a story about this game: three-point shooting in the third quarter.

Normally, Boston wins by outshooting teams from three and winning the math battle. In the third, Cleveland flipped this on its head and was 7-10 from three while Boston was 0-8. That helped the Cavs pull away in the third.

Also: Give J.B. Bickerstaff credit for not going small in the second half after it didn’t work at all in the first. Playing Tristan Thompson instead of Georges Niang was the right call.

Big Picture

Boston is still the favorite in this series. They lost Game 2 against the Miami Heat in round one in similar circumstances and went on to win the next three. That could happen here — the Celtics, at their best, are that good.

But the Cavs showed that they will be a hard team to knock out, even with Jarrett Allen still out. Their Game 2 win is the best performance the Cavs have had in the playoffs so far. They did it against arguably the best team in the NBA and on the road to boot. For a team that struggled at the end of the regular season, lost Game 1 decisively, and was (to be generous) up-and-down in the first round, this is a massive performance.

Up next: Game 3 is on Saturday back in Cleveland. Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. EST.