The win erased any sliver of hope Boston (42-18) had at chasing down Cleveland (49-10) for the top seed in the East. The Cavaliers moved eight games up in the loss column with 23 to play and evened the season series at 2-2. It also raised the specter of Boston's repeated issue of letting teams back into games.

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers one of the three teams in the NBA's Eastern Conference that can beat the Boston Celtics at full strength? Which top teams, if any, can lay claim to such a bold take, given the Celtics are the current defending champions and have played pretty much all of the East ball clubs well so far this season?

The top two teams in the East clash as the Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Boston Celtics. This is the 4th, and final, meeting between these two teams this season. The Celtics won the first game 120-117 in Boston on November 19.