After blowing out the Dallas Mavericks by 20 points on Friday night in their first game with Jayson Tatum on the court this season, the Boston Celtics faced a much more difficult challenge on Sunday afternoon against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The C’s took care of business once again, though, as they cruised to a comfortable 109-98 victory against one of their top competitors in the Eastern Conference.
Tatum rode a red-hot start to a 20-point outing in this one, with Jaylen Brown chipping in 23 points himself. On the other side of the ball, Donovan Mitchell put up another big game against Boston, as he led all scorers with 30 points. After the final buzzer sounded, Tatum and Mitchell embraced on the court, with the Celtics’ superstar gushing over his longtime friend when asked about him in an on-court interview with ESPN.
“Great friend of mine, I’ve known him since high school,” Tatum said of Mitchell after the Celtics’ win over the Cavaliers. “What I’ve realized is the NBA is like a brotherhood. Guys is, even on the opposite team, happy to see me back out here. It was just mutual love, mutual respect. It’s been a while since I competed against him.”
This is the latest in a long line of battles that Tatum and Mitchell have embarked on. While Mitchell almost always finds a way to give the Celtics buckets, Tatum has been able to lead his team to victory more often than not. He certainly had some help in this one, though, as Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman and Sam Hauser all scored double-digit points alongside Tatum and Brown.
The early returns on the Celtics now that Tatum is back in the lineup are quite encouraging. Things aren’t exactly going to get any easier for the team moving forward, though, as they will face another daunting test against the San Antonio Spurs when they return to action on Tuesday night.
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