Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers Match Player Stats On Feb 05, 2019

Jayson Tatum scored 25 points and Gordon Hayward scored 18 points off the bench to lead the visiting Boston Celtics to a 103-96 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.

Marcus Smart added 17 points and Jaylen Brown 13 and seven rebounds for Boston, which won its fifth straight game.

Rookie Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers with 27 points. Alec Burks added 21 points for Cleveland, which lost for the eighth time in 10 tries.

Both teams played short-handed. The Celtics were without Kyrie Irving, who sat out with a hip strain. Boston also did not have Marcus Morris (right knee) and Aron Baynes (foot).

Cedi Osman was held out after injuring his ankle in Cleveland's loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

Sexton was in attack mode all night, pushing the ball and helping the Cavaliers turn an eight-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead with 5:20 left in the third.

Smart tied the score when he completed a four-point play. Tatum scored the next four points and Boston went on a 13-5 run to take an eight-point lead.

The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 90-87 on a long 3 by Matthew Dellavedova with just under 10 minutes to go. But another dry spell doomed the Cavs as the Celtics went up 101-91.

The Cavs took advantage of Boston's lack of depth in the middle, outrebounding the Celtics 47-42 and recording 22 second-chance points. Boston had just four second-chance points.

Cleveland grabbed a 30-28 lead after one period. Sexton led the way with nine points while Tatum paced the Celtics with 10.

The Celtics outscored the Cavs 31-21 in the second period to take a 59-51 lead into intermission. Boston went on a 12-0 to turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead.

Boston took advantage of the Cavs' soft interior defense, scoring on a Brown floater and three straight dunks midway through the period.

Then like he did in Boston's win over Cleveland on Jan. 23, Terry Rozier connected from beyond the 3-point line as time expired to put Boston up by eight.

--Field Level Media