CLEVELAND: Donovan Mitchell poured in 40 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers sent the Boston Celtics spinning to a third straight defeat in a heavyweight clash of the Eastern Conference rivals on Monday.
Boston’s Grant Williams missed two free throws with less than a second left on the clock that would have given the Celtics victory before the Cavs escaped to win 118-114 in overtime.
A depleted Boston missing stars Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Robert Williams III went into Monday’s game in Cleveland desperate for victory after consecutive defeats to the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks.
But the Celtics’ hopes of snapping out of their mini-slump ran into a red-hot performance from Mitchell, who nervelessly drained two free throws of his own with 5.8 seconds on the clock in the fourth to tie the game at 109-109.