Cavaliers vs Celtics score, highlights: Battered Cavs fall short in Game 4 upset bid

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers stole a game in Boston, but they needed to protect their own home court to even the series against the Celtics in Monday night's Game 4.

It didn't happen. The Cavs lost 109-102 and trail the Celtics 3-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland will try to avoid elimination in Game 5 of the best-of-seven, second-round playoff series Wednesday night in Boston.

With a chance to take a series lead, the Cavs fell to the Celtics in Game 3 Saturday night at home. Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, but the Cavs didn't have enough of a supporting cast to battle Boston's stars, which highlights perhaps their biggest issue in this series.

In Game 4, the Cavs were without Mitchell (calf strain) and starting center Jarrett Allen (rib injury). And LeBron James, the greatest player in franchise history, sat courtside and watched. However, the undermanned Cavs couldn't pull off an improbable upset.

Here are our updates as they unfolded throughout Game 4.

Cavs, Celtics Game 4 scoring leaders

Tatum and Brown scored 33 and 27 points, respectively. Point guard Darius Garland led the Cavs with 30 points, and forward Evan Mobley and guard Caris LeVert added 19 apiece. Small forward Max Strus had 15 points.

Cavs behind 105-97 with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter

The Cavs were behind 102-97 with 1:39 left when they won a challenge on a defensive foul called against Garland.

The Cavs were granted possession as a result, but Strus missed a 3-pointer with 1:23 remaining. Then Brown made a 3-pointer with 1:09 left, providing the dagger for Cleveland.

Cavs cut Celtics' lead to seven points with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter

After trailing by 15 points when Brown made a jump shot with 7:56 left, the Cavs repeatedly cut their deficit to seven points in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics led 98-91 after a layup by Mobley with 5:57 left and 100-93 after a layup by Garland with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter.

Cavs trail 96-83 with 8:32 left in the fourth quarter

Holiday made a 3-pointer with 9:15 left in the fourth quarter, giving Boston a 96-83 cushion. The Cavs were behind by the same score during a timeout with 8:32 remaining.

With Mitchell, the Cavs had a hard time keeping up with the Celtics' stars. Without Mitchell, it's looking far less likely.

Cavs trail Celtics 88-78 at the end of the third quarter

Payton Pritchard made a 3-pointer with nine seconds left in the third quarter to give the Celtics an 88-78 lead entering the fourth quarter.

After Garland made a layup to cut the Cavs' deficit to 83-78 with 1:30 remaining, the Celtics scored the final five points of the quarter to seize a 10-point advantage.

Through three quarters, Tatum and Brown had 25 and 20 points, respectively. Garland led the Cavs with 17 points, followed by Strus, Mobley and LeVert with 15 apiece.

Cavs trail Celtics 75-68 after Jaylen Brown asserts himself in third quarter

At this juncture, Brown has nine of Boston's 13 points in the third quarter, and the Celtics lead the Cavs 75-68 with 5:55 left in the third quarter. Brown has been attacking the paint, and it has repeatedly paid off.

The Cavs used a timeout roughly midway through the third quarter after another field goal by Brown.

Cavs aggressive coming out of halftime and regain a lead for the first time since early in the first quarter

The Cavs didn't suffer the same early second-half woes they did in Game 3. They came out of halftime aggressive and took a 65-64 lead with a layup by point guard Darius Garland with 9:24 remaining in the third quarter. The Celtics used a timeout with 8:58 left in the third quarter.

It was the first time the Cavs led since 9:02 left in the first quarter.

Celtics lead Cavaliers 62-57 at halftime of Game 4

Right now, it's Tatum vs. the Cavs' 3-point shooters.

Tatum hit a contested layup and a step-back 3 in the final minute of the second quarter to give the Celtics a five-point lead entering halftime.

He has a game-high 23 points to go with five rebounds and three assists, as he's just been too much for the Cavs thus far.

Cleveland has hit 11 of their 25 3-point attempts (44 percent), led by Max Strus, who has a team-high 15 points. Caris LeVert and Garland have 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Cavs, Celtics score: Boston leads Cleveland 57-56

The Cavs are red hot from 3-point range. They've now hit 11 of their 23 attempts (47.8 percent) and are still within just one possession of the Celtics, even without Mitchell and Allen.

Hitting half of the 3-point attempts is in the playbook for upsetting a heavy favorite.

With 1:10 left in the second quarter, the Cavs have the ball and the chance to enter halftime with the lead.

Dean Wade blocks Jayson Tatum, Max Strus has 15 points; Cavs trail Celtics by only two points

Strus has had a slow, frustrating playoff run. Tonight, he's on fire.

Strus is 5-for-6 from the field overall, and he's hit all five 3-point attempts, including his last, a transition 3 off of Dean Wade's block of Tatum, and the Cavs now trail 48-46 midway through the second quarter.

Without Mitchell and Allen, the Cavs absolutely have to shoot well from 3-point range. Thus far, they've done enough to keep pace.

Jaylen Brown trips Max Strus in the second quarter

Brown was on the floor after making a layup when he grabbed Strus' left foot and tripped him.

With the Celtics leading 48-37, the play was reviewed by the replay center and deemed a foul, but not a flagrant. The Cleveland crowd expressed its displeasure.

Sam Merrill still shot a free throw (and made it) as a result of the tripping being deemed an away from play foul.

Later, Strus made his fourth 3-pointer of the game to trim the Celtics' lead to 48-43 with 7:36 remaining in the first half.

Cavs trail Celtics 37-30 at the end of the first quarter

The Celtics led the Cavs by as many as 11 points in the first quarter. Guard Caris LeVert made a shot with 0.3 seconds left to cut Cleveland's deficit to 37-30 at the end of the opening quarter.

Tatum scored 16 points in the first quarter on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. LeVert led the Cavs with 10 points.

The Cavs are clearly hoping to hang around by shooting a high volume of 3-pointers. They were 6 of 9 from deep in the first quarter. In one sequence, Sam Merrill made two 3s and Georges Niang another to cut Boston's lead to 29-24.

Celtics respond to early Cavs lead with 10-0 run

After trailing 8-2 and calling timeout with 9:58 left in the first quarter, the Celtics turned it on and assembled a 10-0 run to take a 12-8 lead against the Cavs with 7:56 remaining.

All-Star forwards Tatum and Brown each made a 3-pointer during the sequence.

Max Strus starts Game 4 hot from 3-point range, helping Cavs take 8-2 lead vs. Celtics

The shorthanded Cavs led the Celtics 8-2 with 9:58 left in the first quarter after Strus made his first two 3-pointers of the game. Strus' second 3 prompted a Boston timeout.

An indication of how things went for the Celtics out of the gate: Brown missed a pair of foul shots with 10:25 left in the first quarter.

Below is some pregame information.

Cavs vs. Celtics predictions, betting odds for Game 4

For strictly entertainment purposes only, the Cavaliers enter Game 4 as 8.5-point underdogs against the Celtics, according to the MGM Sportsbook. The game has an over/under point total of 208.5 points.

How to watch the Cavs game tonight: What channel is Cavaliers vs. Celtics?

Monday night's Game 4 will be televised nationally on TNT.

What radio station are the Cavs on tonight?

Game 4 will be broadcast locally on the radio via WTAM (1100-AM), WMMS (100.7-FM) and WNZN (89.1-FM).

Cavs starting lineup for Game 4 announced

With Mitchell out, Caris LeVert is sliding into the starting lineup. Isaac Okoro also remains in the starting lineup in place of Allen, who is again out with a ribs injury.

Those two will join Garland, Strus and Mobley to round out the Cavs' starting five.

Donovan Mitchell added to Cavaliers injury report; Star guard is out for Game 4

The Cavs will be without Mitchell for Monday night's Game 4.

Roughly an hour before tipoff, Mitchell was confirmed to be out with a left calf strain.

The Cavs, who have already been searching for enough offense around Mitchell to keep up with the Celtics, will now have to try to even the series without him entirely.

Mitchell was not on the court Monday morning for the portion of the team's shootaround open to media. He watched film and underwent treatment at Cleveland Clinic Courts.

More on Donovan Mitchell's status: Donovan Mitchell missing from open part of Cavs shootaround. He's questionable for Game 4 vs. Celtics with calf injury

Cavs injury updates: Will Jarrett Allen play tonight?

Allen is officially out Monday. He has missed seven consecutive playoff games (Game 4 included) with a rib injury suffered in the first round against the Orlando Magic. The injury has made it difficult for Allen to raise his arms above his head in a manner he'd need to play.

Jarrett Allen stats

Jarrett Allen finished the regular season averaging 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. He shot 63.4% from the floor and also averaged more than a block per game.

There was also a point in the season in which Allen, via some of the advanced metrics used by the NBA, had an argument as being a top-10 overall player in the league.

Dean Wade returns for Cavs in Game 3 loss

Backup power forward Dean Wade returned to action for the Cavs in Game 3 Saturday after missing two months with a sprained knee. Wade entered the game with 4:18 left in the first quarter and made his first shot, a 3-pointer with 3:54 remaining. Wade had not played since March 8, missing 28 games, including nine playoff games. Wade contributed five points, three assists, three rebounds and a blocked shot in 17 minutes Saturday.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Cleveland Cavs score vs. Boston Celtics in Game 4 of NBA playoffs