Dreams of a leisurely waltz to the NBA Finals?

More like Game 2 deja vu.

The Celtics had their streak of four consecutive blowout wins in the playoffs snapped Thursday with a 118-94 loss to the Cavaliers at TD Garden in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The humbling defeat evened the series, which has begun to follow a familiar script for the top-seeded Celtics who routed the Heat in their first-round opener around a decisive Game 2 loss.

The Cavs weren’t historically productive from 3-point range like Miami was in its win, but they did make 46.4% of theirs to Boston’s 22.9%.

“In both of the games we lost here at home, we shot the ball incredibly bad,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. “They shot the ball really well, and we didn’t play defense to our level tonight.”

Brown called the Celtics’ defensive performance “unacceptable.” Cleveland hadn’t scored more than 106 points in any of its first eight playoff games and managed just 95 in Game 1.

Spearheading Thursday’s effort was All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds. The Cavs also got a big night from Evan Mobley, who had 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks despite spending much of the second half in foul trouble. Six Cavaliers players scored in double figures, including Caris LeVert’s 21 points off the bench.

Jayson Tatum paced the Celtics with 25 points, seven boards and six assists.

Game 1 standouts Jaylen Brown (19 points) and Derrick White (10) struggled mightily from deep, going a combined 1-for-14 on 3s.

Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla to departing assistant: Prepare to be hated as head coach

The Cavs also out-rebounded the Celtics 44-31 and outscored them by 16 points in the paint despite missing injured starting center Jarrett Allen (bruised ribs). Boston also was down a key big man in Kristaps Porzingis (calf strain), and for the first time since his injury, it missed him.

“They did a good job, especially on pick-and-roll,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazulla said. “They tested our pick-and-roll defense. We have to do better at that. But a lot of that stuff in the paint came in transition because of our poor offensive spacing and our rim decisions at times.”

The Celtics, who won their first two games without Porzingis by 34 and 25 points, opened this one with a 14-5 run that prompted an early timeout by Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Four Boston players scored points during that opening flurry, with Al Horford and White both sinking 3s.

Cleveland quickly rallied, however, to tie the game at 19-19, then took its first lead of the game when was called for a foul while blocking a LeVert dunk.

The partisan Garden crowd didn’t like the call, but LeVert hit both free throws as part of a 9-0 Cavs run. Cleveland led 30-24 at the end of the first — the first time Boston had been outscored in any quarter since Game 4 against Miami.

The Celtics then responded with an immediate 9-0 run of their own, exploiting a small-ball Cavs lineup to score at the rim on three consecutive possessions.

After being outscored 22-6 in the paint in the opening 12 minutes, five of Boston’s first eight makes of the second quarter were layups or dunks — two by Jrue Holiday and three by Payton Pritchard.

The Celtics also got two second-quarter 3s from Horford and one from Tatum, then went cold, making just one field goal over the final 4:53 of the first half. Boston entered halftime tied 54-54 after a sloppy Brown turnover and foul gifted Cleveland foul shots in the final seconds.

The Cavaliers then controlled the pace of play during a lopsided third quarter, led by their talented backcourt duo of Mitchell and Darius Garland.

Mitchell shook off his sleepy, six-point opening half to score 16 in the third, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Garland added nine points in the frame as Cleveland’s lead swelled to double digits.

“He made some tough shots tonight,” Brown said. “Some tough contested threes. We’ve got to be up. He’s a basketball player, and we’ve got to have a little more alertness to him. Tonight, he got the best of us.”

Mobley picked up his fourth foul with five minutes remaining in the third, forcing him to the bench. But the Celtics couldn’t capitalize against his replacement, past-his-prime veteran Tristan Thompson. Cleveland took a 90-78 lead into the fourth quarter and never looked back.

Mazzulla emptied his bench with five minutes remaining, giving rookie guard Jordan Walsh the first postseason action of his young career.

The Celtics rebounded from their ugly Game 2 loss to the Heat by reeling off three straight routs to win that series in five. Mazzulla will be hoping Thursday’s clunker spurs a similar turnaround.

“You treat it the same way you would a win,” the coach said. “You come in tomorrow, you watch film, and you get better for Game 3.”

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers know what awaits them on Friday night. A fired-up crowd in Boston, an angry bunch of Bruins, probably a good amount of chirping and a tension the likes of which can only be created during the NHL playoffs.

Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk can’t wait.

“The best time of year,” Tkachuk said. “Everybody knows that.”

Game 3 of a knotted-up Eastern Conference second-round series between the Panthers and Bruins is Friday in Boston, the teams splitting the first two games in Florida — and tensions ran hot in Game 2. Tkachuk and Bruins star David Pastrnak fought in the third period, a rarity for offensive stars. It was just the third fighting penalty of the season for Tkachuk, and Pastrnak’s first since March 2018.

Florida won 6-1 and the only people busier than the ones logging the goals were the ones logging the penalty minutes, with 12 misconducts getting handed out in the third period alone.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any spillover to the next game,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “They’re two teams that are rivals. We played each other last year, playing each other this year, it’s going to be a series. And what I’m really proud of, I’m proud of Pasta. There’s so many guys out there pushing after a whistle when the linesmen are there. Pasta and Tkachuk, they just went out there and fought. That’s what you like. You like your hockey players to be competitors.”

Also Friday, Game 2 will happen in Vancouver between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers. Vancouver erased a three-goal deficit to win 5-4 in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

“It’s a resilient group,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “Sometimes we’re not pretty. Sometimes things happen. But I just feel like it’s a real close group.”

The Panthers and Bruins — teams that met in a seven-game series in Round 1 last year, won by Florida in an upset — are pretty close groups as well. And Wednesday’s events probably brought the respective rooms even closer.

From Florida’s perspective, there were things to like: a five-goal win, holding Boston to 15 shots on goal, getting its first power-play score of the season against the Bruins, standing tall when things got physical late and above all else tying up the series. From Boston’s perspective, there was much to celebrate as well from its road trip: the Bruins got home-ice advantage by taking Game 1, still have beaten Florida in five of six meetings this season and know the crowd will be raucous.

“This is what playoffs are about,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. “This is where rivalries are built and obviously with last year, it kind of started there and they play a physical game and we’re able to do that as well. … It’s going to be a physical series. We know that. That’s what fans love. It’s exciting.”

Florida may get forward Sam Bennett back; he hasn’t played yet in the series because of an upper-body injury sustained in Round 1 against Tampa Bay. Bennett will go through morning skate on Friday before the Panthers make a final decision.

The Bruins will have a choice in net, either going back to Jeremy Swayman for an eighth consecutive start or opening with Linus Ullmark. He relieved Swayman in the third period on Wednesday once the Bruins got down 4-1.

“Friday night in Boston, playoffs, it’s going to be a lot of energy in the rink,” Tkachuk said. “Two teams that are very familiar with each other and two teams that really want to win. So, this is a really good series right now.”

EDMONTON at VANCOUVER, Canucks lead 1-0, 10 p.m., TNT

Rick Tocchet’s Vancouver Canucks are apparently never out of a game. After coming back from down two goals with under three minutes left to win in overtime last series against Nashville, they erased an even bigger deficit down 4-1 in the second-round opener before beating the Oilers in regulation.

“This is when you need a close group, these situations,” said Tocchet, a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.

And sometimes you just need a save, which the Oilers could have used from Stuart Skinner on Conor Garland’s shot that became the Game 1 winner Wednesday night.

“There’s going to be games where they’re not his ‘A’ game, and he will be the first to admit today wasn’t his ‘A’ game,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “But we’d never doubt him with how he plays and more importantly how he responds after a game that wasn’t his best. Stu has played very well for us throughout this time, and he’ll play really well for us in the games going forward.”

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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

May is supposed to be a busy time for pro sports in Boston. If it’s a good year, both the Bruins and Celtics are occupied with playoff runs, as they are now. The Red Sox season is starting to hit its summer stride, as is the Revolution’s. Training camp is beginning to feel closer and closer for the Patriots.

And this year, there’s another squad to add to that packed schedule: Our local Professional Women’s Hockey League franchise.

On Thursday, Boston’s team — which, like every squad in the PWHL, does not yet have a name — will take part in the league’s first-ever playoffs. It comes on the heels of a pioneering season for the team and the PWHL, whose regular season got underway in January.

For members of PWHL Boston, the goal is to keep the momentum from a solid first-season going through a playoff run.

New season, big changes

For PWHL Boston forward Jamie Lee Rattray, this year has been a much-needed step forward for the game.

Rattray, a member of Canada’s 2022 Winter Olympics team, previously played in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League before it folded in 2019. She also played with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.

She stressed just how professional the experience has been for the PWHL, with everything from the facilities they use to the product on the ice. She said pro women’s hockey hasn’t always received this kind of treatment.

“I think we are treated like professionals at every aspect. We have the staff in place and the support that we can just be hockey players, and I think that’s honestly the biggest thing that has changed over this year,” she said. “It’s been a ton of fun and I don’t take it granted one bit because I’ve seen the other side of it and it’s been a ton of fun just having that now at our disposal.”

The results have spoken for themselves: Nearly 400,000 fans were in attendance across the PWHL’s regular season. For PWHL Boston, it’s been of a bit of an up-and-down campaign. The team won 12 games and lost another 12. But the green and silver finished strong, winning four of its final five games. Over the weekend, they beat Montreal 4-3 to secure a spot in the playoffs.

Now the team wants to carry some of its late-season energy into the postseason.

“You know, it’s easier with the vibes in the room when you’re winning, right?” team captain Hilary Knight said this week. “So there’s definitely momentum. But at this point in the season, all teams have momentum if you’re one of the four teams that’s moving forward. But [I’m] really looking forward to puck drop and getting to work.”

A different kind of playoffs

The top four finishers in the PWHL’s regular season all earned spots in the league’s inaugural playoffs.

Usually, most pro playoffs are set up simply: The best regular-season team gets the top seed and typically plays the lowest-ranked opponent in its first matchup.

But the PWHL went a different route: Toronto, which finished with the best regular season record, got to choose its opponent between the third- and fourth-place teams, ultimately deciding on facing four-seed Minnesota. It adds a new layer of strategy that gives a fresh spin to playoff thinking.

That means Boston will face off against Montreal, the second seed. The teams split the regular season series 2-2.

Boston will be on the road in Montreal for the first two games of the best-of-five series. Game 3 will be on Boston’s home ice at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, as will Game 4, if necessary. Game 5 would be back in Montreal.

The four teams will all have their eyes on the Walter Cup, which is named after Los Angeles Dodgers majority owner and PWHL bankroller Mark Walter. And, of course, there are bragging rights on the line.

Now, as Boston and Montreal face off in a new twist on an old rivalry, Boston is hopeful it can keep the form it’s had following an international hockey break.

“I think it’s a new season,” said head coach Courtney Kessel. “We had a great ending, and we came out hot after Worlds, but this is playoff hockey. And anything can happen.”