Pregame ιnjury luck made for a pleasant start on the trip on Monday. Then it got tough, with many of turnovers and an injured dog in the way. However, the journey had brought the Celtics to their desired destination at the conclusion of the evening: their home court and a chance to secure a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal on Monday, Boston defeated the underdog Cavaliers 109-102 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out five assists in one of his best performances of the postseason. With 1:09 remaining, Jaylen Brown scored 27 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer that gave the C’s an 8-point edge. Boston’s advantage of fifteen points was cut to as few as five points in the fourth quarter due to a dry spell that included six field goals, the last of which was Brown’s three-pointer. Without star guard Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland team was outscored by just seven points in the final four and a half minutes, and the Celtics had to rely on their defense to stay ahead of them.

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla remarked, “Everyone talks about clutch offense, but I thought our clutch defense was good.” “When we needed to, we were stopped. We were able to reach a few 50/50 balls and played excellent late-game defense. Boston can close the game on Wednesday night at TD Garden, where they are still undefeated on the road this postseason. Game 5 is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.

Five-time All-Star Mitchell was ruled out of Game 3 due to a calf strain he sustained late on Saturday night. Alongside starter center Jarrett Allen, who hasn’t played in this series yet because of damaged ribs, he rode the bench. When combined, their absences gave the Cavs a rare double-digit home underdog advantage, one that they have refused to live up to throughout the whole of the game. With the support of a boisterous, sold-out crowd, the Cavs took an early 8-2 lead. After that spurt, Mazzulla called a timeout, which set up a 19-2 Boston run that was subsequently sparked by baskets from Tatum and Brown. Nevertheless, Cleveland put out that fire with scorching 3-point shooting, keeping the score close to single digits for the remainder of the quarter. Jrue Holiday (16 points, 7 rebounds) scored a string of baskets to extend the Celtics’ advantage to as much as 13 points as Tatum took a nap to start the second. Midway through the quarter, Cavaliers forward Max Strus, who was probably irritated that Brown had grabbed his ankle from the floor earlier, made back-to-back 3-pointers to bring Cleveland within one point.

In the closing seconds of the half, Tatum nailed a step-back three from the left wing, maintaining the recently heightened intensity of a close game. Boston led by 62 points at the half, a narrower margin than anticipated because of the Cavaliers’ shooting and the Celtics’ thoughtless mistakes.

At the half, Boston had ten turnovers, four of which were from Brown. Mazzulla blamed the lack of poise on the Celtics’ butterfingers.

“Just pass when balls are being deflected and thrown out of bounds. That is all. “I’m not kidding,” Mazzulla uttered. “Just maintain distance and execute the proper pass.”

In the first half, Strus nailed five three-pointers, matching his total from Games 1-3 put together. The seldom-used shooting specialist Sam Merrill, who finished with two 3-pointers, gave Cleveland a little boost as well. Mitchell’s absence was somewhat mitigated by Merrill and recently promoted starter Caris Lavert, while Darius Garland (who scored a team-high 30 points) assumed the role of primary ball handler and scorer.

None of them, however, were able to break through a recommitted Celtics defense right after halftime in the absence of a constant supply of turnovers. Consequently, a run-and-gu𝚗 first half gave way to a slow third quarter that was capped off by another late, step-back 3-pointer from the Celtics. With just seconds remaining, Cavs backup guard Dean Wade was beаt by Payton Pritchard (11 points), who gave Boston a reason to shrug. He made a huge 3-pointer from the top of the arc to give the Cavs a 98-88 lead.