BOSTON — Everyone knew the deal. The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Tuesday’s game against the reigning champions with a 15-0 record, second-best start to a season ever, and it was an NBA Cup game to boot.

“We knew,” said Boston Celtics guard Derrick White. “Everybody knew.”

In front of a national television audience, the Celtics reminded the Cavaliers that the Eastern Conference still runs through Boston. They made five of their first eight 3-point attempts, took an 18-8 advantage midway through the opening quarter and never trailed again in a 120-117 victory Cleveland never quit.

Boston pushed its lead to 65-48 by halftime, making nine more 3-pointers on 11 attempts in the second quarter. We could call it a barrage if it were not so expected. This is what the Celtics do. Their 51.1 3-point attempts lead the league by almost six per game. Even at a middling conversion rate, they sink nearly 20 triples a night. Make it 22 on Tuesday. Better keep up if you ever want that math to work in your favor.

The Cavs could not. They shot 10-for-29 from deep and climbed uphill all night as a result. This was a deviation from their norm. They have been playing faster and with more freedom under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who learned in his time with the Golden State Warriors that the ball should never stick.

Except it did against Boston. “Not great,” Atkinson said of his team’s preparedness.

“The first thing we learned was the force and physicality,” he added. “They had playoff force and physicality; we had regular-season force and physicality. And that’s why we were down 17 at the half.”

They responded in the second half, trimming a 21-point deficit to 86-84 over seven minutes of the third quarter. Some of it was the Celtics settling for contested 3s, rather than creating open ones. Most of it was the Cavaliers pounding the paint. Whether it was Donovan Mitchell taking Neemias Queta off the dribble or Cleveland’s bigs posting smaller defenders, the Cavs outscored Boston on the interior 60-36.

Credit to Cleveland for not conceding the undefeated record, but the Celtics answered that call, too.

“It’s simple: We just locked in on defense,” said Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. “We’ve been in that situation a million times where it’s time to win.”

So they did, which could be interpreted as a bad sign for the Cavaliers, who considered this game a measuring stick of their seriousness as a contender. But Evan Mobley drew a different conclusion.

“From what I saw out there, we could beat anybody,” said Cleveland’s rising star.

Is that feeling different from last year, when Boston ousted Cleveland in a second-round playoff series?

“Not really, honestly,” added Mobley (22 points, 11 rebounds). “Last year it felt the same way. We were right there. We lost the series, but most of the games we were right there with them the whole time.”

Can beat the Celtics and will beat the Celtics are two different things. For as much positivity as the Cavaliers drew from their first loss of the season, there is this: Boston will soon reincorporate All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis, who unlocks another dimension for a team that won a title largely without him.

The Celtics assigned Porzingis to their G League affiliate Monday. Instead of sending him to Maine, they brought the entire developmental team to Porzingis, so he could simulate serious game action for the first time since his surgery, sources told Yahoo Sports. Attendees were pleased with his performance, which is a) to be expected from anyone relaying that information and b) better than the alternative.

Either way, Porzingis’ return is now a matter of weeks, not months, even if he may not be available when these two teams meet again Dec. 1. That is the next measuring stick. This one fell short for the Cavs, who look different from last season yet still a tier below the fully healthy version of the reigning champs.

Kristaps Porzingis began what the Celtics called the “next phase of his recovery” on Monday, joining Boston’s G League affiliate for a practice at the Auerbach Center.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla said the rehabbing big man suffered no setbacks during that session.

“I only watched a little of it, but he came out of it OK,” Mazzulla said before Tuesday’s NBA Cup matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. “So he’ll just continue to ramp it up and get better and better.”

Porzingis underwent offseason surgery to repair the rare leg injury he suffered during the NBA Finals. He has not played since, but he has been around the team and, by all accounts, is making steady progress.

Mazzulla didn’t explain exactly what this “next phase” for Porzingis entails (“I have no idea. It’s a medical phase”) but said he’s been pleased with the work the 7-foot-2 center is putting in.

“All I know is he’s getting better every day, and he’s working really hard at coming back as fast as he can,” Mazzulla said. “And he’s in the next phase of the ramp-up.”

Porzingis was the only Celtics player unavailable for Tuesday’s game. Sixth man Payton Pritchard was listed as questionable Monday with a sprained left thumb but was upgraded to available before the game.

Tillman Maine man

Joining Porzingis for his brief G League rehab assignment was forward Xavier Tillman. Some players might balk at a request to practice with the farm club, but Mazzulla said Tillman, who has fallen out of Boston’s rotation of late, embraced the opportunity.

“He just wanted to play,” Mazzulla said. “It was an opportunity to play, and he’s obviously done a great job of just doing what we’ve asked him to do. So it’s a credit to him. We’ve got a lot of respect for him for making that decision. He’s got to keep getting better and better. He’s brought great character, a great work ethic to it.”

Acquired from Memphis ahead of last season’s trade deadline, Tillman logged substantial minutes over Boston’s first four games but has hardly seen the floor over the past three weeks. Entering Tuesday, the 25-year-old had played just 19 total minutes over the last nine games – despite starting one of those – with four healthy DNPs during that span.

The bulk of Tillman’s minutes have gone to center Neemias Queta, who’s emerged as a steady frontcourt presence for Boston after splitting last season between the NBA and G League.

Queta hasn’t replicated Porzingis’ rim protection and isn’t a perimeter shooting threat, but he entered Tuesday ranked third among Celtics players in rebounds per game behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and first in rebounds and blocks per 36 minutes.

Cavs hurting

Mazzulla said the biggest difference between the current Cavaliers, who carried a perfect 15-0 record into Tuesday’s clash, and the Cleveland squad Boston dispatched in the Eastern Conference semifinals was that this one is “healthier.”

At the top of their roster, that’s certainly true. The Cavs were without Donovan Mitchell for two games of the teams’ playoff series and down Jarrett Allen for all five; both have been available and highly impactful this season.

But Cleveland was missing several important role players in this rematch, with Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and Caris LeVert all sitting out due to injury. Okoro and Wade have made 15 combined starts this season, and LeVert is the top bench option for head coach Kenny Atkinson.

Atkinson, who didn’t shy away from the hype surrounding this matchup, said playing against the defending champion Celtics would give the Cavs valuable “feedback” about their own championship bona fides.

“Hopefully, we’ll see this team down the road,” he said. “(This is) an important game. On the other hand, I don’t want to blow this game out of proportion. It’s that balance, but it’s more anxious to see where we are. And we all know our schedule has not been the hardest. So we’re playing an elite team, the top team in the league. So I just can’t wait to get some feedback from the game.”

Mazzulla on Montgomery

The Celtics’ fellow TD Garden tenant underwent a coaching change Tuesday, with the reeling Bruins firing Jim Montgomery 20 games into his third season with the club.

Mazzulla, who’s spoken previously about how Boston’s head coaches support each other, called Montgomery’s dismissal an unfortunate reality of their business.

“I talked to him a couple times,” Mazzulla said. “It’s tough. I talked to him a few times, and then watching the games. I didn’t really dive deep into his coaching philosophy or stuff like that. You hate to see a coach have to go through that, but we all get hired to get fired.”

Montgomery and Mazzulla found similar regular-season success in Boston, but each of the former’s first two seasons ended in an early playoff exit. The Bruins then nosedived this season, prompting management to cut bait after an 8-9-3 start.

Joe Sacco will replace Montgomery on an interim basis.

Off the rim

Big Boston sports week for Chris Sale. After attending Patriots-Rams at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, the former Red Sox ace was among the notable attendees at Celtics-Cavs. … Boston’s remaining schedule for NBA Cup group play: at Washington this Friday and at Chicago next Friday. Unless the Celtics make the knockout rounds and earn a home game in the quarterfinals, Tuesday was their final time playing on the bright-green TD Garden court.

Originally Published: November 19, 2024 at 6:35 PM EST

A Boston man received a five-month prison term Friday for obtaining nearly $50,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 pandemic relief aid for his purported businesses, funds he instead spent at a casino and a Saks Fifth Avenue store, according to Acting US Attorney Joshua S. Levy’s office.

Antawn Davis, 40, learned his fate in US District Court in Boston, where he had pleaded guilty in June to wire fraud and making false statements, federal prosecutors said. Davis was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $49,999 in restitution and forfeiture.

In April and May of 2021, Davis submitted bogus loan applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, meant to help businesses hurt by the pandemic, prosecutors said in a statement.

“The applications contained multiple false statements, including the purported business’ total gross income in 2020, and the purpose of the loan,” prosecutors said. “Davis also submitted false tax records in support of his loan applications.”

Davis received nearly $50,000 in public funds, money that he promptly spent “on non-business-related expenses, including transactions at a casino and at Saks Fifth Avenue.”

Within weeks of getting the taxpayer funds, Davis “spent nearly the entirety of the proceeds on non-business-related expenses through a series of transactions, including for example, at Champs Sports, a casino, a zoo, Six Flags, and Saks Fifth Avenue,” prosecutors said.

“The defendant spent the funds on shopping and recreational excursions,” they said. “No portion of the loan proceeds went toward keeping a business running or employees paid.”

In a recent sentencing memo, Davis’s lawyer, John H. Cunha Jr., asked that his client be spared prison time.

“He is a 40-year-old man, motivated by his personal and professional responsibilities as a father of four and a chef, who has worked to turn his life around,” Cunha wrote. “He requests a sentence of 36 months’ probation, which is ‘sufficient, but not greater than necessary’ to achieve the purposes of sentencing set forth” in federal law.

“The seriousness of Mr. Davis’ offense is mitigated by his remorse and desire to pay restitution,” he said. “There is no need to incarcerate Mr. Davis to prevent recidivism.”

Davis had thought about buying a food truck with the money but “determined there was a three-year waiting period” for a city permit, his lawyer said.

“He then spent some of the money paying bills, including a car payment, but also frittered some of it away, including by gambling, a regular pursuit, although he does not believe his gambling is problematic,” Cunha wrote.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.