Jim Ingraham: Cavs did what they had to do, but can they keep doing it?

How's this for a response? The team that lost Game 1 by 25 points won Game 2 by 24 points. Both of them on the road. The next two games will be in Cleveland, where the Cavs are undefeated (4-0) in playoff basketball this season. In what has to be their best game of the season, maybe their best in several seasons, the Cavs sent Boston Celtics fans streaming for the parking lots halfway through the fourth quarter of Cleveland's near-perfect 118-94 victory Thursday night. The Celtics came into the game with a home record of 37-4. They walked off the floor with a home record of 37-5, and this was not a fluke. The Cavs outscored Boston 30-24 in the first quarter, 36-24 in the third quarter and 28-16 in the fourth quarter. They did so with only one healthy big man: Evan Mobley, who helped lead the way with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots, and — this is very important — avoided fouling out, despite Boston players spending much of the game trying to coax fouls. Donovan Mitchell, who had just six points in the first half, blew the lid off the second half, finishing with 29 points on a night when virtually every Cavs player who played, played well. That includes coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who masterfully orchestrated his injury-riddled, short-handed team to victory in one of the most difficult NBA arenas in which to win. All of a sudden, the series is even at 1-1, with the next two games in Cleveland. It will be difficult for the Cavs to play as well in those games as they did Thursday night in Boston. But being on their home court, in front of their home fans, whose energy level, which, riding the momentum of Thursday night's electrifying win, should be through the roof, let's just say it should be very interesting. But let's also be realistic. Boston won 64 games in the regular season, seven more than any other NBA team, and 16 more than the Cavs. The Celtics have scorers at all five spots in their starting lineup, and one of the better benches in the league. However, the Celtics also have a postseason reputation, when playing inferior teams, of putting it in cruise control, and giving up a game or two because of it. That may have been a little bit of what was at work in the Cavs' win Thursday. In Game 1 the Celtics had their way with the Cavs for most of the evening during a 25-point victory. That may have led them to believe that Thursday's Game 2 was going to be another easy day at the office. Instead, it wasn't. It's not often that every player on a basketball team has a good game in the same game, but that's basically what happened with the Cavs on Thursday night. Everybody who played contributed. Darius Garland, whose jump shot has been missing in action for too long, suddenly found the right coordinates and made five of eight shots from the field, four of the five being 3-pointers. He also chipped in with a totally-unexpected seven rebounds. Go figure. Mobley, who scored or assisted on 19 of the Cavs' first 30 points, didn't need much help on the glass, but when he did, his three guards — Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus — combined for 20 rebounds, as the Cavs dominated the Celtics on the boards 44-31. Every time the Celtics tried to make a run, the Cavs answered with either a run of their own or some suffocating defense. Mobley, who drew his fourth personal foul in the second quarter, somehow managed to play well, without fouling out the rest of the way. That was a matter of no small consequence, given that injured Jarrett Allen is still out with his rib injury. But Bickerstaff never had to worry about losing Mobley, who managed to remain effective over the rest of the game without fouling out. It was that kind of game for the Cavs, who fed off their early success against a Celtics team that played as though it wasn't particularly concerned that the Cavs were taking it to them for most of the game. The Cavs couldn't have played much better than they did in the first half, but all it got them was a 54-54 tie. At halftime Bickerstaff said, "OK, let's try this." The Cavs did, and they overwhelmed the home team in the second half, outscoring the team that in the second half is usually the team that does the outscoring, 64-40. This was exactly the game the Cavs had to play, against that team, in that team's arena, in front of that city's fans. The last half of the fourth quarter was basically garbage time, and the Cavs never enjoyed playing with the other team's garbage as much as they did in winning their way back into the series. Contact Jim Ingaham at jingraham4@gmail.com and follow him @Jim_Ingraham on X.