Blakely's halftime thoughts: Celtics cruising

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BOSTON – The Boston Celtics used a strong finish in the second quarter to take a 55-31 lead into the half.

The Celtics were aided not only by solid play defensively, but also an assist of sorts from Cleveland head coach David Blatt.

The Framingham native decided to sit four of his starters – LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and J.R. Smith – for Sunday’s game.

Blatt’s thinking was that this would give his core guys a chance to get some rest prior to the playoffs starting.

For Boston, it provided them a much better shot at winning the game and more important, potentially secure a playoff berth with a win on Friday.

However, things didn’t go quite as well as the Celtics wanted in the first quarter.

After the Celtics began the game with a 9-0 spurt, the Cavaliers called a timeout and responded with an 18-4 run that helped Cleveland eventually lead 22-21 after the first quarter.

The two played a relatively close second quarter until the Celtics broke open a 24-24 tie with a 12-0 run.

Boston continued to pull away with a series of big plays.

Following a timeout with more than four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Avery Bradley had another 3-pointer.

That was soon followed by a Cavs turnover which led to a Brandon Bass dunk.

Boston continued to play with efficiency at both ends of the floor that propelled them to a comfortable 24-point lead after the first two quarters of play.

Here are three takeaways from the first half.

POINTS IN THE PAINT

Boston had a strong half not just getting into the lane, but finishing, too. At the half, the Celtics held a 22-10 advantage on points in the paint.

TRANSITION GAME

Boston made the most of the mistakes made by Cleveland, which led to several scoring opportunities in transition. At the half, Boston had a 9-3 edge on fast break-points.

DEFENSE

Boston limited Cleveland to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field, and 1-for-11 from 3-point range.

 

 

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