Mitchell-led Cavaliers stun Celtics in battle of East's best - ESPN

BOSTON — Less than five minutes had passed in Friday night's final regular-season showdown between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers and the Celtics, and the game already felt over.

Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson already had burned his second timeout, the Celtics already had made seven 3-pointers and Boston led 25-3, appearing well on its way to a massive statement win.

«We got punched in the mouth,» Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell said later. «What are we going to do about it? How are we going to respond?»

As it turned out, the Cavaliers responded rather splendidly. And it was thanks in large part to Mitchell, the six-time All-Star who finished with 41 points and five assists in 35 minutes in what eventually became a 123-116 Cavaliers victory at a sold-out and stunned TD Garden.

«I think they trust each other,» Atkinson said. «They trust the message and they trust each other.»

Entering Friday, the Cavaliers hadn't lost since falling to these same Celtics on Feb. 4 in Cleveland, a game that came less than 48 hours before the trade deadline. In response to Boston largely controlling that contest en route to a 112-105 victory, the Cavaliers went out and acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for Caris LeVert and Georges Niang.

The move was designed to give Cleveland another big wing to throw at the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But by the time Hunter entered Friday's game, at the 7:11 mark of the first quarter, it looked like his minutes might only come in mop-up duty.

That quickly changed as the first quarter played out. Cleveland cut its deficit to 12 by the end of the quarter. And from there, it kept plugging away at Boston's lead thanks to multiple sustained runs led by