The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't plan on needing to recover from a 20-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Boston Celtics on Friday night. However, this is exactly what happened as the Wine and Gold stunned the crowd at TD Garden,

Boston got monster performances from Jayson Tatum (46 points) and Jaylen Brown (37 points), while the Cavs rode Donovan Mitchell’s seemingly eternal hot hand to victory. Mitchell finished the night with 41 points and sank big shots any time he had the opportunity.

Mobley finally found his game, and Mitchell saved the day when it looked like all was lost. Could it generate hope for this spring?

The league-leading Cavs funneled out of Boston with a prevailing thought of returning in about three months — for a fated showdown in the conference finals.

Mitchell's latest scoring explosion marked his first 40-point game of the season and the 19th of his Cavaliers career. When adding in Mitchell's five made threes, he tied Cleveland legend LeBron James for the most games (12) in Cavaliers history with at least 40 points and five threes ( via StatMuse ).

With Celtics fans in a frenzy throughout TD Garden after the Boston Celtics blitzed to a 25-3 lead over the Cavaliers in the final matchup of Eastern Conference frontrunners, Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell didn’t panic BOSTON -- With Celtics fans in a ...

The Celtics got a huge performance from Jayson Tatum, but the Cavaliers pulled away late on Friday to claim a 123-116 victory.

The win erased any sliver of hope Boston (42-18) had of chasing down Cleveland (49-10) for the top seed in the East. The Cavaliers moved eight games up in the loss column with 23 to play and evened the season series at 2-2. It also raised the specter of the Celtics' repeated issue of letting teams back into games.

Boston, missing two key starters, appeared to be in control for much of the game before Cleveland’s fourth-quarter surge. Jayson Tatum delivered a dominant performance with 46 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists, while Jaylen Brown, returning from a thigh contusion, contributed 37 points, five rebounds, and two assists.

However, this is exactly what happened as the Wine and Gold stunned the crowd at TD Garden, in their 123-116 win over the Celtics. Donovan Mitchell spoke after the game about the team's ...