The streak is officially over. After 15 consecutive wins to kick off the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have finally lost their first game of the season, 120-117, on the road against the defending champion Boston Celtics. The defeat ensures that Cleveland would not claim sole possession of the second-longest undefeated start to a season in NBA history. They will instead remain tied with the 1993-94 Houston Rockets and the 1948-49 Washington Capitols.
Boston, which moved to 12-3 on the season, might run away with this game early on. The Celtics led by 17 at halftime behind a sizzling 14-of 22-effort from 3-point land and pushed that lead all the way up to 21 in the third quarter thanks to a stellar all-around performance from Jayson Tatum and excellent 3-point shooting from just about everyone. But Cleveland simply would not go away. An 18-3 run late in the third quarter made it close, and Cleveland cut the lead down to two points on five separate occasions. They just couldn't quite get it over the top, failing to ever even tie it in the second half.
It's a loss Cleveland will look back on with quite a bit of regret as the season progresses. Not only did they cede some ground in the regular season standings to Boston, but they also gave the Celtics control of their group in the NBA Cup. Now, Cleveland will have to rely on either another Cup loss for Boston or tiebreakers with other Eastern Conference teams to advance to the Knockout Stage.
The game was winnable for Cleveland, but a 3-of-21 shooting performance from Darius Garland coupled with underwhelming first-half defense was just enough for the Celtics to sneak out with the win.
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