Cavs rally past Boston in overtime

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers turned what would have been an embarrassing defeat into one of the most exciting victories of the season. Guard Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 40 points and pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds to spark the Cavs' 118-114 overtime win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Cleveland (41-26) got a huge lift from little-used forward Lamar Stevens in overtime with five points, including a huge 3-pointer with 2:14 to play that handed the Cavs a 114-112 lead they never relinquished. He finished with eight points and eight rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Not bad for someone who played nine seconds through the first three quarters. "There's no way we win this game without Lamar," Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. The Celtics (45-21) led by 14 points, 92-78, entering the fourth quarter. They might have run out of gas after they suffered a double-overtime loss to New York on Sunday. Then, against the Cavs, Boston played without three starters, including MVP candidate Jayson Tatum (knee), Al Horford (back) and Robert Williams (hamstring). Cleveland outscored the Celtics 9-5 in overtime to improve its record to 7-0 in OT this season. Guard Darius Garland's two free throws with 6.9 seconds left iced the outcome. There would have been no celebrating for the Cavs if Boston forward Grant Willliams had made even one of two free throws at the end of regulation and the score tied at 109. However, with a little "help" from Mitchell, he missed both free throws with eight-tenths of a second left, sending the game into overtime. "I was trying to mess with him mentally," Mitchell said. "I wanted to find a way to get in his head a little bit." Despite being listed as questionable with a sprained left middle finger, Mitchell ended up playing 47 minutes. "I mean, yeah, it's one of those things where you could sit there and dwell on it," he said. "Obviously, it's not the opportune time for this to happen. A lot of it for me is just the growth. I think last year I probably would've dwelled on it and probably would've been like, 'Darn, why now? Why is this happening?' (I'm trying to find) a way to continue to push through and just find a way." Bickerstaff said it's all about "pain tolerance." "It's not going to heal overnight," he said. "It's going to be sore and something you have to fight through." Cavs power forward Evan Mobley was a beast inside with 25 points, a game-high 16 rebounds and three blocks. The Celtics had no answer for him in the paint. His big night was needed, as starting center Jarrett Allen had an off night with four points and six rebounds. Garland added 17 points, a game-high 12 assists and five rebounds. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown narrowly missed a triple-double with 32 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. The Cavs outscored Boston 62-46 in the second half and overtime. Cleveland trailed 68-56 at halftime and was badly outplayed. "We did a better job of guarding them (in the second half)," Bickerstaff said. "It wasn't until the fourth quarter until things started to shift. It's something we have to learn. You can't have halves like that and expect to come back. Give our guys credit, they came back and got it done." Tip-ins Since Feb. 1, Darius Garland is shooting .532 from the 3-point line (41-of-77). He was seventh in the NBA from behind the arc with a career-best .431 heading into Monday's game. Bickerstaff said the Cavs need to generate more offense off the bench."It's important that we do," he said. "A lot of that is on me." The Cavs starters are ramping up their minutes in preparation for the upcoming postseason. Bickerstaff said they'll need to be ready to play 37-38 minutes."The veterans understand that is what happens in the playoffs," he said. "You can't just wake up (in mid-April) and do it."Bickerstaff said during the All-Star break the coaching staff discussed the additional minutes and when to implement it. Contact Bob Finnan at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on Twitter.