That's more like it.
The Celtics' second trip to Cleveland was much more successful than the first, as they come away with a 106-87 victory. The C's have won four straight games and hold a 13-4 record.
- The Celtics found themselves down by nine points at one point in the first quarter (18-7), but Rajon Rondo rattled off the final 11 points of the frame for the C's, helping to shave the deficit to a mere two points (23-21) heading into the second.
- The bench put forth one of its finer performances of the season in the second quarter, as Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels, and Nate Robinson all contributed to help turn a two-point deficit into a five-point lead that the starters eventually turned into an 11-point halftime advantage (56-45). The C's totaled 35 points in the second frame, with Daniels, Davis, and Robinson accounting for 16 of those.
- The Celtics kept their collective foot on the gas pedal in the third quarter, outscoring Cleveland 24-20 (holding Cleveland to 8-23 shooting), to assume a 15-point lead heading into the final frame. Rajon Rondo scored a season-high 23 points, with six of those coming in the third frame, to go along with four of his 12 assists. Only three of Rondo's 11 field goals came outside of the paint tonight. He was a layup machine.
- Daniels had one of his finer performances of the season, as he tallied a season-high 16 points on 7-10 shooting. Daniels really utilized his patented in-between game tonight, as he incorporated many of his "tweener" jump shots in the lane.
- Glen Davis (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Kevin Garnett (11 points, 10 rebounds) both notched double-doubles for Boston. Garnett appeared to tweak his right ankle after stepping on the back of Paul Pierce's foot around the 7:50 mark of the third quarter. For one terrifying second, I thought it was the knee again, but it was not. He turned his right ankle, Doc yanked him for a few minutes, then he returned and did not appear to be limited in any way.
- The Celtics were dominant in the paint once again, outscoring Cleveland 60-26.