There are cold shooting nights, and then there are the kind of stretches that become instant television material. That was the case Sunday in Cleveland, when the Cavaliers’ miserable first-half shooting from beyond the arc against Boston was so striking that a clip of Shaquille O’Neal launching threes with the Inside the NBA crew quickly became part of the conversation around the game.
The Inside the NBA Crew Had Shaq Shoot Threes After the Cavs Went 2-22 from Deep in the 1st Half vs. Boston. 😅 pic.twitter.com/EbljKcWXT4
— OpenCourt-Basketball (@OpenCourtFB) March 9, 2026
Cleveland’s offense never found a rhythm early, and the three-point line became the clearest symbol of the problem. The Cavaliers were 2-of-22 from deep by halftime as Boston built control of the game, with the Celtics pushing the margin to 56-35 later in the second quarter, in a dominant Boston performance in the 109-98 road win.
From Boston’s side, the story was straightforward. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum helped steady the Celtics, who took advantage of Cleveland’s misses and dictated the game for long stretches. Brown finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Tatum added 20 points in just his second game back from the Achilles injury that had sidelined him for about 10 months. Cleveland did get 30 points from Donovan Mitchell, but the early hole created by the missed threes was too large to fully erase.
