CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Kelce brothers came to party Tuesday night.
Dean Wade gave them a reason to when he took over in the fourth quarter. Wade scored 20 in the final 12 minutes to help the Cleveland Cavaliers erase a 22-point deficit in a 105-104 win over the Boston Celtics at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“It was rocking,” Wade said. “It really was that fourth quarter some shots went down and that place was jumping. It really was. It was awesome. Crowd was into it like always. It was just a great energy in the building really.”
Here’s our top Wine & Gold Nuggets from the end of the Celtics’ 11-game win streak.
Closing time – Wade, a huge Chiefs fan, got a hug and some love from Travis Kelce, after he led the Cavs charge down the stretch, outscoring the Celtics all by himself in the final quarter 20-17. “He said if basketball didn't work out for me and I wanted to be a backup tight end, I got good hands,” Wade said of the brief postgame conversation with the three-time Super Bowl champion. “So yeah, he was like, yeah, that was just awesome. Fourth quarter blown up. That was great. So it was pretty cool.” Wade, who essentially replaced Evan Mobley, who suffered a sprained ankle midway through the third quarter, hit all seven shots, including five threes in the final quarter. “When Dean Wade is playing with that extreme confidence, I mean he's a hell of a basketball player,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He's a multifaceted guy, he's not just a spot up shooter. We know the things he can do defensively, but he has an offensive game and tonight he got it rolling, but the belief, the confidence, but that's who Dean Wade is at his core.” Wade’s back-to-back hits from beyond the arc with 4:18 remaining that pulled Cleveland within 97-94 sent the building into a frenzy, with Travis Kelce urging the crowd on from his courtside seat during timeouts. Wade hit another triple that gave the Cavs their first lead in what seemed like an eternity, 102-99. Wade then smashed home the deciding two points with a thunderous dunk off a rebound of Darius Garland’s miss on a driving layup with 19 seconds remaining. “He missed it and luckily it came off the front of the rim and it was an easy putback,” Wade, who set a career-high by finishing with 23 points, said.
Comeback kids – With Mobley out and without Donovan Mitchell or Max Struss, it would have been easy for the Cavs to call it a night trailing 93-71, but that’s not who or what this team is. “It is just not our guy's nature to give up,” Bickerstaff said. “And we've obviously been through situations where we've been shorthanded, we've been down and it seems like every single time it happens, somebody else finds a way to step up and help us win, but our guys won't quit. The momentum got going, the crowd got going, shots started falling.” It was the largest fourth quarter comeback in franchise history surpassing five 19-point rallies with the most recent coming against the Miami heat February 24, 2020. “Dean Wade, that was the main push of it all,” center Jarrett Allen said. “Dean came in, hit some big shots, got some big rebounds. He really sparked the offense, sparked the defense into getting this whole comeback.” Wade’s hot hand played an instrumental role in the rally but once again when down and out the Cavs responded in a positive way. “We just never stopped fighting,” Wade said. “We got full belief in ourselves in each other and it's not really showed no matter what happens, we're going to play hard and play together. And the fourth quarter really showed that for us.” Wade felt the momentum shift
Take another look – Bickerstaff challenged a pair of calls and won them both Tuesday night. The most critical came when Darius Garland was called for a foul with 0.7 seconds remaining on Jayson Tatum and the Cavs clinging to their 1-point lead. The official replay review overturned the call setting up a jump ball at center court that ended the game. “In our opinion, there was clear and conclusive evidence that the leg extension by Tatum created that marginal contact with the defender Garland where otherwise contact wouldn’t have been made,” crew chief Zach Zarba said via a pool report conducted by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor following the game. “That’s why it was overturned… It’s our opinion that the leg extension by Tatum created the marginal contact and Garland did not make any illegal contact at all. That’s why it was overturned.” Tatum finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds in 38 minutes for the visitors.
Double trouble – Allen tallied his team-leading 29th double-double of the season finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds. “We're at our best when Jarrett Allen's at his best, there is no secret,” Bickerstaff said. “When he is dominant on both ends of the floor, our basketball team is the best at it's going to be. And again, he's another guy who saw Evan go down and knew that he just needed to do more. I thought he did a phenomenal job and he always has. But again, when the chips were down, he was there. He was the constant throughout the game for us.” Allen has scored 20 or more points in 15 games this season. Allen (2,361) also passed Phil Hubbard (2,360) for 14th place on the Cavs all-time total rebounds list.
Mobley banged up – Evan Mobley suffered a left ankle sprain after landing awkwardly following a dunk in the third quarter and did not return. “From what I saw in the replay quickly, he landed funny after the dunk and kind of stumbled and twisted his ankle,” Bickerstaff said. “I haven't heard anything about X-rays or anything like that yet, but I'm sure they'll keep you guys posted as soon as we hear something.” Mobley finished with four points on two for eight shooting, six rebounds and four assists in just under 23 minutes.”
Mitchell update – Donovan Mitchell will miss at least the next two games and potentially more after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection on Monday to treat a left knee bone bruise. “You're always obviously concerned, but we're confident and these next steps will be the steps that are necessary,” Bickerstaff said. “It was one of those things where he was trying to play through it, but he just was hampered and you could see he couldn't explode. He couldn't move going certain directions because of the pain and how it was limited, but I'm not a doctor, but from everything that I'm hearing, the time, the rest and the process should get him back to full strength.” Mitchell missed his 14th game of the season and that total will climb to at least 16 by the end of the weekend. “It's more of a wear and tear thing,” Bickerstaff said. “From where we were, it was like a tendonitis type thing that kind of just flared up, so it's not something that just happened, but something that just built over time.” The Cavs improved to 8-6 in games without Mitchell this season.
Party time – Tuesday night was Kelce brothers bobblehead nightTuesday night was Kelce brothers bobblehead night, honoring the Cleveland Heights natives and NFL stars. During the first timeout Jason Kelce, who returned from the NFL on Monday, was honored along with his brother and Chiefs tight end Travis. Jason received a framed No. 62 jersey from the Cavs. During a third quarter timeout, Jason beat Travis in a beer chugging contest.
Home cookin' – The Cavs improved to 6-1 against the Celtics at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse since March 17, 2021. Overall, Cleveland has won 12 of their last 15 home games and is 22-6 overall since January third, while securing their 40th win of the season.
Starting 5 – Bickerstaff went with Sam Merrill, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen Tuesday night.
