Cavs at Celtics preview and gamethread
The Cavaliers will put their 15-game winning streak on the line in Boston.
The Cavs will face their toughest test of the season as they travel to Boston.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (15-0) at Boston Celtics (11-3)
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 19
TV: TNT
Line: Celtics -5
Expected Cavs starting lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Cavs injury report: Dean Wade - OUT (ankle), Isaac Okoro - QUESTIONABLE (ankle), Caris LeVert - QUESTIONABLE (knee), Sam Merrill - QUESTIONABLE (ankle), Max Strus - OUT (ankle), Emoni Bates - OUT (knee)
Expected Celtics starting lineup: Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford
Celtics injury report: Kristaps Porzingis - OUT (foot), Payton Pritchard - QUESTIONABLE (thumb), JD Davison - OUT (two-way), Drew Peterson - OUT (two-way), Anton Watson - OUT (two-way)
Fear the Sword will be hosting a live stream watch party for select games this year on Playback. Join us as we react to all the action.
What to watch for
NBA Cup implications
The Cavs have a chance to take a significant step toward making it to Las Vegas. A win here would essentially eliminate Boston from the NBA Cup which would open up not just a clear path to winning the group, but a clean shot at advancing through the entire Eastern Conference.
Styles make fights
The Cavs and Celtics have the two best offenses in the league. How they generate their looks is entirely different. Boston is disciplined in their spacing. They rely on their shooting from all five positions and their ability to win one-on-one matchups on the perimeter to create open threes. Cleveland generates their offense with player and ball movement. Their cuts to the basket and relentless pressure on the rim fuel their attack.
Both offenses have found different ways to produce similar results this season. Those contrasts will be apparent when both share the floor.
Defending Boston
The Cavaliers' defense has left much to be desired over the last few weeks as they’ve been a middle-of-the-road defense during that span. A lot of that stems back to their inability to defend the three-point line. That will be a problem against Boston.
The Cavs used a man-to-man defense to defend the Celtics last postseason. This season, they’ve been playing more zone defense in an effort to stay with shooters on the perimeter. Considering they will be shorthanded on the wing against a team with an unlimited supply of them, Cleveland may need to resort to that tactic more often than they’d like to on Tuesday.
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best
The Cavs have been the best team in the league this season. You literally can’t do any better than win all of the games you played. But the mantle of the best team still lies in Boston and will until someone eliminates them from the playoffs whenever that might be.
Winning in Boston won’t mean that the Cavaliers are the best team in the league. It will, however, be a meaningful step in showing that they can become the best team in the league. That is all you can do in November.