BOSTON — Celtics Coach Brad Stevens didn’t get carried away by Boston’s rout of a Cleveland team that bore little resemblance to the real Cavaliers.
LeBron James and J.R. Smith watched from the bench. Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving didn’t even get that far. None of those four starters played because Cleveland already had clinched the No. 2 playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
TWO REGULAR SEASON GAMES LEFT
TUESDAY: Toronto Raptors at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. (CSN)
WEDNESDAY: Celtics at Bucks, 8 p.m. (CSN)
OF NOTE: The Celtics can clinch a playoff berth with one win, or a loss by either Brooklyn or Indiana
Still, Stevens was impressed with the 117-78 victory Sunday that reduced to one Boston’s magic number for a postseason spot that seemed so unlikely not long ago.
“Our guys just played very maturely the whole game,” he said. “I thought we played well, but, obviously, they didn’t play their best players.”
The Celtics would clinch a playoff spot with one win in their final two games, or a loss by either Brooklyn or Indiana.
Cavaliers Coach David Blatt wasn’t concerned that his decision to rest four starters could hurt Brooklyn or Indiana’s postseason prospects. He plans to use all four Monday night against Detroit.
“Indiana wasn’t upset when they played us and we had to sit a player or two,” he said. “We played Indiana in Indiana and we sat LeBron because it was tough back-to-back (games) after (a) plane failure and we flew in the day of the game.
“That didn’t bother them then. I don’t see what would bother them now. That’s the nature of the league.”
If the Celtics remain in seventh place in the East, they would face the Cavaliers in the first round.
“We’ll be ready if we play them,” said Iman Shumpert, who led Cleveland with 15 points and 10 rebounds but had seven turnovers.
Isaiah Thomas led seven Celtics in double figures with 17 points. Evan Turner added 15 and Avery Bradley had 12. The Celtics had 20 steals, high in an NBA game this season and one less than their franchise record.
The playoffs seemed extremely unlikely for the rebuilding Celtics when they were 16-30. But they are 22-12 since then after settling on a starting lineup and regular rotation following numerous personnel moves.
“We didn’t even know we had a chance back in the beginning of January,” Tyler Zeller said. “It says a lot about the group we have, just coming out every night and competing.”
The Celtics outscored the Cavaliers 34-9 in the second quarter to take a 55-31 lead and stayed ahead by at least 20 points the rest of the way.
Boston won by its biggest margin of the season, while Cleveland had its worst loss.
The win was the Celtics’ fourth straight and followed a 99-90 victory on Friday night that ended the Cavaliers’ 18-game home winning streak. Irving missed that game because of a sore hip, and James and Love did not play in the fourth quarter as Blatt decided to rest them.
On Sunday, Boston took advantage of Cleveland’s sloppy play and poor shooting. The Cavaliers committed 12 turnovers (10 steals) and made only 29 percent of their shots (12 of 42) in the first half.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.