Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum celebrates his 3-point basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum celebrates his 3-point basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)David Richard/Associated Press
CLEVELAND — With Jayson Tatum’s feel-good return against an overmatched opponent Friday night complete, the Celtics and their star forward moved forward with a more significant challenge Sunday.
There were no No. 0 T-shirts draped over every seat, and there were not 20,000 fans there to lift Tatum and the Celtics. Instead, they were facing a dangerous Cavaliers team in front of a rowdy crowd, opening their toughest three-game road trip of this season.
Tatum started the game with a flourish, and his teammates took care of the rest, helping Boston roar to a 26-point lead before pushing back a late Cavs comeback attempt to secure a 109-98 win.
Tatum made 6 of 16 shots and scored 12 of his 20 points in the first quarter. Jaylen Brown had a team-high 23 points.
Donovan Mitchell had 30 points to lead the Cavaliers, who could never dig out of the hole they created with a 10-point second quarter.
The Celtics took an 86-61 lead on a Neemias Queta dunk with two minutes left in the third quarter. It was another moment when it looked as if Cleveland might fold, but it did not.
Instead, the Cavaliers went on a 25-8 run that was capped by a Jaylon Tyson 3-pointer from the top of the key with 6:25 left. Cleveland pulled within 98-90 on a Mitchell floater with 5 minutes to play, but Pritchard answered with consecutive baskets, and a Tatum 3-pointer with 1:59 left stretched the lead back to 107-95.
Tatum missed his first shot of the game, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but quickly found his rhythm. With Boston trailing, 11-3, coach Joe Mazzulla drew up a play for Tatum, who converted a 15-foot fadeaway. He added a 3 off the dribble and a pair of layups before being fouled on a 3-pointer.
The Celtics star scored 12 points during Boston’s 17-4 run that flipped the early deficit into a 20-15 lead, and they never trailed again.
Tatum was set to check out at the 5:09 mark, but he was at the free-throw line, and those shots were followed by nearly two minutes without a whistle, leading to an 8-minute, 40-second opening stint.
Boston took a 35-26 lead to the second quarter after going 12 for 23 from the field and 6 for 10 from the 3-point line in the first. Its shooting then cooled considerably, but that did not matter, because the Cavaliers froze over.
Cleveland opened the period by going 1 for 18 with two turnovers. The Celtics defense deserves plenty of credit for forcing contested perimeter jumpers with the shot-clock winding down, and there were also botched layups that made this frustrated crowd groan.
Boston was 5 for 20 in the period, and somehow outscored the Cavaliers by 11 points anyway, a seemingly impossible juxtaposition. But the Celtics were happy to take a 56-36 lead to the break after holding Cleveland to just 10 second-quarter points.
The Cavaliers showed hints of a run to start the third quarter, twice pulling within 12. But Brown slowed the charge by calmly depositing four mid-range jumpers.
Sam Hauser poured in three 3-pointers during a 16-2 Boston run that pushed the lead back to 81-55.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.