Jaylen Brown lamented a “mentality loss” as the Boston Celtics’ 11-game winning streak came shuddering to a halt at the hands of Dean Wade and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
The longest winning run of the NBA season came to an end in dramatic fashion as the Cavs overcame a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to clinch a 105-104 win, sealed by a replay review in the final second.
Wade’s career-high 23 points led the way for Cleveland, with his putback dunk inching the hosts ahead at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse with just 19.1 seconds to play.
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The league-leading Celtics thought they had a golden chance to restore their lead with 0.7 seconds left, as Jayson Tatum appeared to draw a foul from Darius Garland.
The Cavs challenged the call, and upon review, officials ruled that Tatum initiated the contact, dropping Boston to 48-13 with their first defeat since February 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“because it’s iconic.” #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/kG2bZfXtaj
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 6, 2024
“That’s what happens when you don’t match the gas and don’t put an NBA team away,” Brown said after the game.
“Tip your cap to Dean Wade. He got hot, but we should have won that game. We haven’t really seen a team storm back like that.
“Today was a mentality loss. We had the game. Shouldn’t have happened.”
Tatum, meanwhile, maintained there was enough contract from Garland for the last-gasp foul to be called, saying: “I thought I was fouled, but they [the officials] didn’t think I got fouled, which was tough because we would have got the tip-in. It’s a weird way to end the game.”
The Cavs’ fightback came in front of Cleveland natives Travis and Jason Kelce, who cheered the team on from courtside seats just one day on from the latter announcing his NFL retirement.
Wade, who grew up as a Kansas City Chiefs fan, shared a memorable conversation with Travis at the end of the game.
“He said if basketball didn’t work out for me, I could be a backup tight end,” Wade said. “I’ve got good hands. That was just awesome. Pretty cool.”
goodnight, cle fans. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/moVJSAvBY7
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 6, 2024
