Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET
Rocket Arena, Cleveland, OH | Game ID: 22500921
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 26 10 33 29 98BOS 35 21 30 23 109
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Jaylen Brown has 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as Celtics beat Cavaliers 109-98
CLEVELAND -- — Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and Jayson Tatum had 20 in his second game back from a torn right Achilles, lifting the Boston Celtics to a 109-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a battle of Eastern Conference contenders on Sunday afternoon.
Brown also had nine rebounds and eight assists as the Celtics built an 81-55 lead in the third quarter, sweeping their three-game season series with Cleveland. Tatum scored six points in the fourth, finishing 6 of 16 from the field in 27 minutes.
Payton Pritchard added 18 points and Baylor Scheierman had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Boston moved within three games of East-leading Detroit. Neemias Queta grabbed 11 boards.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Evan Mobley had 24 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-place Cavaliers, who had won a season-high seven straight at home. James Harden had 19 points and 10 assists.
Cleveland, which is 22-9 since Dec. 29, pulled within 94-86 midway through the fourth on Jaylon Tyson 's 3-pointer. Pritchard answered with a 3-pointer and tacked on back-to-back hoops to restore the Celtics’ double-digit lead.
Tatum scored 14 points in his first 12 minutes, helping Boston take a commanding 48-29 advantage in the second. The Celtics went up 56-35 later in the period on two free throws from Brown, aided by Cleveland shooting 2 of 22 on 3-pointers in the first half.
Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen did not play after injuring his right knee Tuesday against Detroit, but coach Kenny Atkinson said he was “trending better.” Mitchell saw his first action since straining his right groin on Feb. 24.
Boston, which began a three-game road trip, will be without center Nikola Vucevic for at least a month after he underwent surgery on his fractured right ring finger Saturday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECP C. Porter Jr.
DM D. Mitchell
DS D. Schröder
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
JH J. Harden
JT J. Tyson
KE K. Ellis
SM S. Merrill
SC Schroder
TB T. Bryant
BOSBS B. Scheierman
DW D. White
GO Gonzalez
HG H. González
JB J. Brown
JT J. Tatum
LG L. Garza
NQ N. Queta
PP P. Pritchard
SH S. Hauser
CLE/BOS the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur