Celtics' Jayson Tatum Reveals the 'Simple' Reason Boston Took Down Undefeated Cavaliers

The Boston Celtics made a statement after narrowly defeating the formerly undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers 120-117 Tuesday.

Nov 19, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) defends Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics made a statement by narrowly vanquishing the formerly undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-117, cementing themselves as the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Offensively, the game featured what fans have come to expect from the Celtics: a ton of 3-pointers and spreading the ball around.

However, star forward Jayson Tatum credited their victory to something very simple: defense.

"It's simple: We just locked in on defense," Tatum said, per Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo! Sports. "We've been in that situation a million times where it's time to win."

Tatum was absolutely correct, and you can see this through his stats. While he provided an impressive 33 points and seven assists, he dominated them defensively with two steals and 12 defensive rebounds, more than other player had in total.

Center Al Horford also was a key contributor, recording 20 points, seven total rebounds (five defensive), three blocks, and an assist.

Overall, the Celtics simply outperformed the Cavaliers defensively. While Cleveland matched them on steals (four a piece), Boston had more defensive rebounds (33) and blocks (4).

Additionally, the Celtics kept the Cavaliers from sinking 3-pointers. They only went 10-for-29 the whole game. That's 34.5 percent.

Boston truly showed their defensive prowess by limiting Cleveland to only 48 points.

"The first thing we learned was the force and physicality," Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson said. "They had playoff force and physicality; we had regular-season force and physicality. And that's why we were down 17 at the half."

What's especially surprising is that the Celtics are doing this without center Kristaps Porzingis, who has been an integral part of Boston's defense.

Defensively, Porzingis averaged 5.5 rebounds, 0.7 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game across 57 games. Additionally, he was averaging 20.1 points, 7.2 total rebounds, and two assists.

Still, the Cavaliers consider the game an overall positive despite losing.

"From what I saw out there, we could beat anybody," power forward Evan Mobley said.

"Last year it felt the same way," he continued. "We were right there. We lost the series, but most of the games we were right there with them the whole time."

Despite the win, the Celtics are 2.5 games behind the Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conderence. However, they have proven that Cleveland needs to do more if they truly want to be considered the best.

More Celtics: Boston Sets Ridiculous Three-Point Record in First 15 Games of Season