Six lessons on how the Celtics blowout Cavaliers and Jaylen Brown make history

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The Boston Celtics destroyed the Cleveland Cavaliers 141 to 103 on Sunday, breaking a dismal streak of three straight losses.

Six lessons for the Celtics to return to the winning column.

Jaylen Brown made the game look easy.

Sometimes, when a player leaves the scene, you can see how difficult the game is. Other times, a player seems so dominant individually that it makes the defense seem almost nonexistent.

Brown’s performance on Sunday was the last. After a strong start, Brown made Cleveland’s defense (which we’ll talk about in a minute) look silly. He drove directly on the edge repeatedly in both half-court and transition sets and converted layup after layup. When the Cavaliers finally closed the track, Brown started playing for medium and long-range jumpers. As noted by Jay King of The Athletic, Brown became the first player in NBA history to score 33 points in 19 minutes or less.

If Jaylen Brown does not play again after checking out at the end of the third, he will become the first player in the @bball_ref (dating from 1983-84) to score at least 33 points in 19 minutes or less. Paul George (37 points), Kiki Vandeweghe (36) did it in 20 minutes.

– Jay King (@ByJayKing) January 25, 2021

Brown’s All-Star candidacy is almost a foregone conclusion on this point. What else can he win?

The Celtics eliminated a first-rate defense.

After losing consecutive games to the Sixers last week, Brad Stevens gave his players a kind of warning.

“We are not going to win a game with the group we have, losing 122 points,” said Stevens. “And until we’re really committed to that – and again, it may not change the outcome in any of those games, but until we’re really committed to that, I just don’t see ourselves being competitively sustainable.”

The Celtics responded on Sunday, blocking an attack by the Cavaliers who beat the Brooklyn Nets twice in a row last week. Interestingly, however, it was the Boston attack that did most of the work. The Celtics ran over a group of Cleveland that had the NBA’s fifth best defensive rating before Sunday’s game.

The Cavaliers’ defensive numbers were probably a little loud – with all due credit, their first five players are not elite defenders. Still, until the end of the season, the Celtics scored 141 points against a much improved defensive team.

Aaron Nesmith needs to see some shots falling.

The Celtics rookie had a few minutes in the second quarter, while the Celtics ran to a big advantage and hit 1 to 3 behind the hoop. One of his attempts was an air ball. Another looked very uncomfortable.

Nothing takes a sniper’s pace away from the irregular minutes, and Nesmith’s minutes have been very irregular. In the second half, Nesmith seemed more comfortable burying two points out of 3, and he showed little flashes of his game in addition to just a straight shot, which is an encouraging sign.

Still, if the Celtics hope Nesmith can contribute this season (an open question at the moment), it can help to get a few real minutes. The pace is a little important.

Carsen Edwards lost 18 points. What should we do with this?

Don’t stray too far from the pure numbers of Edwards’ big night, most of which came at the time of trash. He’s a scorer sometimes, even when he gets consistent minutes, and the game was decided when he started scoring.

Much more important to Edwards: he seems to have earned some confidence from Brad Stevens. Earlier this season, Stevens noted that Edwards was one of the players who impressed with effort and tenacity in practice.

Edwards also showed a much improved layout package, which is crucial for him. He needs to be able to score even when he is not red hot in the 3 point range. Collapsing the defense and showing some touch would be great.

The double lineup was great (don’t expect it to continue).

If the Celtics played the Cavaliers every night, perhaps the double team – surpassed by 19.8 points by 100 possessions this season before Sunday’s game – could have saved their numbers. Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson submitted +32 and +34 respectively in their minutes, which was a big boost against a very large Cleveland team.

Still, a successful game is probably not enough to bring this pair together consistently, especially with the return of Jayson Tatum approaching.

Kemba Walker will not play against the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

The Celtics face the Bulls on the second consecutive night on Sunday. After Brad Stevens’ post-game, Kemba Walker should not play. The full set of Celtics stars will have to wait.