On Tuesday, Mar. 5, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced off against the Boston Celtics. It was an exciting night in Cleveland for a few reasons.
The Cavs had a chance to prove themselves against one of the best teams in the NBA. The Celtics came into Tuesday’s game as winners of 11 straight games and with a first-place position in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs were looking to rebound and get back on track after a loss to the New York Knicks. They also came into the game short-handed, missing their leader, Donovan Mitchell, and sharpshooter Max Strus.
In addition to the appeal of the actual game, the night was made even more exciting by the appearance of Cleveland natives and NFL superstars, Jason and Travis Kelce. The Kelce brothers were on hand for their “bobblehead night,” where the Cavs gave away thousands of bobbleheads of Jason and Travis to fans. Some people seemed to come to the game just to see the Kelces.
If someone walked through the concourse of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, they might think they were at a Chiefs or Eagles game based on the jerseys people wore. Also, the Kelce bobblehead night happened the day after Jason Kelce announced his retirement from the NFL, so the Cavs honored Jason by playing a tribute video and giving him a framed jersey.
When the game tipped off, it was clear early on that the Celtics were as good as advertised. The squad’s best player, Jayson Tatum, couldn’t seem to miss. The Cavs played almost the entire first half from behind. Big man Jarrett Allen could score and keep the Cavs within striking distance, but it seemed like they were overwhelmed by Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis. Tatum finished the first half with 19 points and the Celtics had a 10-point lead. The crowd didn’t have much to cheer about and it seemed like people only cheered when the Kelces were shown on the video board.
At halftime, the Cavs brought out another celebrity, professional eater Joey Chestnut. The Cavs had Chestnut compete in a pierogi-eating competition against three other contestants. It was not a competition, as Chestnut ate 39 pierogies, more than all of the other contestants combined.
When the game resumed in the third quarter, the competitiveness remained. The Celtics continued to make shots and their lead only seemed to grow. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Celtics’ lead had grown to 22.
However, as the fourth quarter went on, the momentum started to shift. The Cavs started to get contributions from their role players, especially Dean Wade. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Cavs hit a few threes to cut the lead back to ten. This is when the energy inside the arena began to shift. The crowd became much louder and more involved. The Kelce brothers stood out of their courtside seats to fire up the crowd and received a massive roar in response. The Cavs fed off the energy by chipping away at the lead and they eventually tied the game with a corner three from Georges Niang.
The game ended up coming down to the final possession, with the Celtics trailing by one point with a chance to win. Jayson Tatum missed a fadeaway shot with 0.7 seconds left on the clock, but a foul was called on the Cavs’ Darius Garland. The crowd became incensed when the replay was shown on the video board, showing that Garland’s contact with Tatum was light and should not have constituted a foul. Cavs’ coach, JB Bickerstaff, was visibly upset with the officials and challenged the call. The Cavs won the challenge, and after a jump ball at midcourt, the final tenths of a second expired and the Cavs won the game.
After the time expired, multiple Cavs players approached the Kelce brothers to celebrate with them. Wade, a Kansas City native and a Chiefs fan said that having the Kelce’s courtside was “pretty cool.” Allen also noted that once the Kelces started pumping up the crowd, he thought to himself, “Oh, we can do this!” Overall, it was a fun night in Cleveland that was made even more exciting by Jason and Travis Kelce.