It wasn’t until match 8 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs that the Cleveland Cavaliers had their first away victory.

But this win was extremely important when Donovan Mitchell and his teammates suddenly “blow-out” the Boston Celtics with a score of 118-94, defeating the No. 1 team in the NBA right at TD Garden.

The above result helped the Cavaliers equalize the score of the Eastern semi-final series 1-1, entering Game 3 and Game 4 at home with a significant advantage.

This is considered a surprising victory because the Boston Celtics are a team that always competes very well at TD Garden. In addition to home field advantage, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and his teammates are also more highly rated.

Experts don’t even consider the Cavaliers a worthy opponent of the Celtics because they just lost big in Game 1. However, the story in Game 2 is completely different.

Boston’s team lost the feeling of throwing far at an unbelievable rate with only 22.9% (8-35 3PT), while Cleveland did the opposite with a successful throw rate of up to 46.5% (13-28 3PT).

The Boston Celtics were the better team to enter the game, taking a 9-point lead right in the first half. Immediately afterward, the Cavaliers came back with an 11-0 run to equalize before ending the first 12 minutes with a 30-24 advantage.

But Cleveland’s sublime attack suddenly cooled in the second half, creating conditions for the Celtics to return to the match. Al Horford and Jayson Tatum led the home team’s 19-3 run, equalizing the score 54-54 just before halftime.

Unlike the first half of the match, the third and fourth quarters of Game 2 became one-sided when Donovan Mitchell decided to “turn on the engine”. He only had 6 points (2-6 FG) in the first two rounds but scored 16 points (3-4 3PT) in the third round.

Mitchell’s explosive play raised the morale of the entire Cavaliers team. They played cohesively with many individuals taking turns scoring points, bringing the lead to 27 points midway through the final quarter.

Donovan Mitchell ended Game 2 with 29 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and a long-range shooting performance of 5-7 3PT. Darius Garland also shot 3-pointers very well with an 80% success rate (4-5 3PT), scoring 14 points.

Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert each scored 21 points for the Cavaliers, keeping the away team in a tie with Boston before Mitchell exploded in the second half of the match.

The entire Cavaliers team achieved 54.7% FG and 46.4% 3PT, two very good finishing indicators compared to the average in the NBA Playoffs.

Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 7-17 FG. Jaylen Brown also shot 7-17 FGs but scored 19 points and didn’t have any successful 3-pointers (0-6 3PT).

Even Boston Celtics 3-point record holder Derrick White had a bad day today, scoring only 10 points with 1-8 3PT all game.

Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs Eastern semi-final series will take place at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, May 12. With the series score at 1-1, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have a huge advantage as they are the home team of the next two matches.