Celtics Aim To Close Series Against Cavaliers
The Boston Celtics will host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at TD Garden on Wednesday night. The Celtics lead the series 3-1.

The Celtics are potentially 48 minutes away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston suffered a shocking loss in Game 2 of the series, but the Celtics bounced back admirably with back-to-back wins in Cleveland. Their 109-102 win in Game 4 was more complicated than expected, but the Celtics continued to perform at a high level despite missing Kristaps Porzingis due to injury. The Celtics have gone 3-2 at home during the playoffs, and that has been slightly subpar after losing just three of 41 regular-season contests in front of their fans. Considering the Cavaliers could be shorthanded for this matchup, the Celtics look like complete favorites to close the series out in front of their fans. If the Celtics play as well as they’ve played in the last two games, they shouldn’t have problems closing the series.

Kristaps Porzingis (calf) is out for Game 5. The rest of the team is available.

The Cavaliers have their backs against the wall ahead of Game 5, and things look complicated for them since there’s a strong chance they’ll be without two of their best players, Donovan Mitchell (calf) and Jarrett Allen (ribs). Cleveland appeared to have cracked the code after winning Game 2 of the series, but the team couldn’t keep the momentum going despite playing Game 3 and Game 4 at home. The Cavaliers need to tighten things up defensively, and while they’ve done a good job of slowing Jayson Tatum at times, Cleveland must compete at a high level for the entire 48 minutes if the team wants to have a shot at pulling another upset on the road. The Cavaliers will have to rely on Darius Garland and Evan Mobley to pull a gigantic upset against the team with the best record in the 2023-24 regular season.

Caris LeVert (knee), Jarrett Allen (ribs), Donovan Mitchell (calf) and Craig Porter (ankle) are game-time calls for Wednesday. Ty Jerome (ankle) is out.
Posted on: 5/14/2024 8:25 PM