The Boston Celtics faced off against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena Sunday night. Boston rebounded after a tough loss in Minny last night, with a well-rounded team performance to record a nailbiting win, 117-115. Payton Pritchard was on fire from start to finish as he led Boston with 42 points on the night, Jaylen Brown recorded a triple double and Jordan Walsh had a career night.
Boston came into the contest with a starting five of Pritchard, Walsh, Hauser, Brown, and Tillman. Neemias Queta and Derrick White were not available for the Celtics on the second night of a road back-to-back. The Cavs came into the contest with injury concerns also, as Sam Merrill, Jarrett Allen, Lonzo Ball, Larry Nance Jr., and Max Strus were ruled out. Cleveland came into the game with its regular starters of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, DeAndre Hunter, Jaylon Tyson, and Evan Mobley.
Boston got out to a quick 13-2 lead as the visitors settled into the game from the tip, hitting on a perfect 6-6 from the field. Payton Pritchard spearheaded the C’s with 3 straight, including 2 triples, for 8 points. The Cleveland crowd was noticeably quiet early as Boston forced Kenny Atkinson to take an early timeout. For the Cavs, they were ice cold to start, shooting just 20% from the field before Mitchell finally hit a pair of three-pointers to steady the home team.
Rookie Amari Williams was the first big off the bench for Boston as Queta had the night off on the back-to-back. Anfernee Simons hit on his first two jump shot attempts for Boston from the bench, but the Cavs capitalized on a slew of Celtics turnovers as they raced back into the game to make it a five-point game, 25-20. Former Atlanta Hawk DeAndre Hunter led the way for Cleveland in the first quarter with 8 points in the paint.
For Boston, Payton Pritchard had 10 points, Anfernee Simons chipped in 7 points from the bench, and Jordan Walsh had 6 points and 4 rebounds. After the first quarter, the Cavs had trimmed Boston’s advantage back to just 2 points, as Boston led 28-26.
Boston continued to turn the ball over to start the 2nd quarter as Evan Mobley drove and scored on a finger roll to hand the Cavs their first lead of the game, 33-30. With Jaylen Brown on the bench, Boston fielded a season-first lineup of Gonzalez, Tillman, Simons, Hauser, and Minott. Anfernee Simons reeled off 6 straight points for Boston to keep the Celtics in the game.
Nov 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jordan Walsh (27) shoots a three point shot over Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) during the first half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images David Dermer-Imagn Images
Pritchard and Brown returned to the game, and the league’s reigning sixth man of the year converted on a deep triple and then drove and scored on Porter Jr. for his fifteenth point of the night in just nine minutes. The former Oregon Duck drilled his fourth three-pointer of the game as the Celtics erased the Cavalier lead to tie things at 49 apiece.
Jaylen Brown, who had a monster game last night with 41 points, struggled with his shot in the first half, converting on just 2 of 8 from the field, but the Celtics found points and contributions from others, highlighted by Xavier Tillman draining a corner three at the halftime buzzer to go up by 9 points, 58-51 at the half.
Evan Mobley rattled in 2 three-pointers to start the third quarter for the home team before JB finally hit on his first triple of the game from the top of the key for his twelfth point of the night. Brown then stole the ball and fed Sam Hauser on the outlet pass for an open layup. Xavier Tillman had a rare fast break one-on-one score, his ninth point of the night, as Boston looked in control of things, with a 74-65 lead.
Hauser drained a smooth heat-check triple at the five-minute mark, as Boston’s lead extended to 18 points. Payton continued to score at will in the third quarter as he drained a three for his 27th point of the night. Donovan Mitchell spurred a mini run for Cleveland as he cut past an outstretched Jordan Walsh for his ninth point of the night on a layup to cut it back to 15 points. Baylor Scheierman got in on the scoring for Boston with his first made three-pointer.
Cleveland went on a 14-4 run as Mobley hit his third three-pointer of the night to cut the Boston lead back to 11; Boston remained up 90-79 after three quarters. Cleveland scored the first 4 points of the fourth quarter to keep the pressure on Boston. The C’s remained scoreless at the 9-minute mark, and a Tyrese Proctor three-point make saw the home team make it a 4-point game, 92-88.
With Jaylen Brown watching on, the Celtics bench tried to keep the Cavaliers at bay. Jordan Walsh was excellent for Boston, stealing the ball right out of DeAndre Hunter’s hands in the C’s backcourt. Walsh had a career night, recording a double-double with 6 minutes to go in the contest. Rookie Hugo Gonzalez drained his first three of the night to get the Boston lead back to seven, 97-90.
Nov 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) goes to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and guard Jaylon Tyson (20) during the first half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images David Dermer-Imagn Images
Payton Pritchard’s hit his sixth trey of the game as he recorded a 30-piece for his season high in points. Walsh had a career night of his own, with 14 points and 11 rebounds and some tenacious defending against Mitchell and the other Cavalier wings. Boston had an eight point lead with a minute and a half to go in the game as Mitchell dove for a loose ball and picked up a foul and hit on 1 of 2 free throws. Tyson fouled Pritchard at half court and the Celtics leading scorer calmly drained a pair of free throws.
Mitchell hit on a quick triple to cut the Boston lead to just 3 points with 30 seconds to go. Pritchard hit a mid-range jumper for his 40th point of the night. Spida drained yet another three as the Boston lead was just two, 114-112 with just 15 seconds to go.
Pritchard was fouled with 5 seconds to go in the game as Cleveland got desperate to stop the clock. He nailed both free throws to all but ice things for the road C’s. The Cavs had a chance to tie things with 0.6 seconds on the clock but the Celtics prevailed on the SEGABABA. Boston next play the New York Knicks at home on Tuesday night.
