Celtics just bullied Mitchell and Garland in more ways than one

The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night with one simple game plan: Take Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland out of the same. But at the same time, they wanted to keep them in it. On offense, they wanted Mitchell and (more significantly) Garland in every action. Yet when the Cavs were on offense, they did whatever they could to get the ball out of their hands.

Boston turned Mitchell and Garland into ghosts.

Through the first three quarters of the game, the two Cavs stars shot 6-of-20 from the floor and turned the ball over nine times. They played right into Boston’s trap, which was merely the defensive style they have been employing all season.

Celtics relentlessly picked on Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland

Whenever a defender has driven this season, the Celtics have sent multiple bodies their direction. They’ll live with a late-contested three-point shot from a role player over a drive from a star player. Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, and Anthony Edwards have all learned this the hard way, and some reacted better than others.

Mitchell and Garland struggled to adapt in the early portion of Sunday night’s game. Of their 20 shots, eight came in transition, four occurred without an attempt to drive the ball, two were contested looks, one was off an offensive rebound, and one was the result of a defensive breakdown by Boston.

That leaves just four shots that came within the natural flow of the Cavs’ half-court offense. For the rest of the first three quarters, Mitchell and Garland either turned the ball over or gave up the rock.

Jalon Tyson, De’Andre Hunter, Dean Wade, and even Nae’Qwon Tomlin spearheaded the Cavaliers’ offensive attack, shooting three after three. Tyson, in particular, got hot, but Boston’s goal was accomplished: They got the ball out of Mitchell and Garland’s hands.

By the end of the game, Mitchell and Garland were hitting some shots, but most of them were well-contested threes that didn’t include a dribble-drive for Boston to help on. It was simply a classic case of tough shot-making.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the court, Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard relentlessly picked on Mitchell and Garland. Mitchell got targeted a few times, but for Garland, it was on nearly every possession.

Whenever the opportunity arose, the Celtics would screen with whoever Garland was guarding in an attempt to get him switched onto Brown or Pritchard.

Brown didn’t have the best scoring night, but he parlayed the Garland mismatch into an 11-assist game. As for Pritchard, he dropped 42 points, and whenever Garland was in front of him, he saw a bucket.

In fact, as a team, the Celtics shot 9-of-13 when guarded by Garland, including 4-of-6 from Pritchard alone.

The Celtics took down the Cavs on Sunday night, and they did it by turning Mitchell and Garland into ghosts.