CLEVELAND: Kyrie Irving scored 32 points and registered his fifth double-double in his last seven games to allow the Cleveland Cavaliers to hold on for a 124-118 victory Thursday against the Boston Celtics.
The Cavs blew nearly all of an 18-point lead entering the fourth. A driving basket by the Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas pulled Boston within 117-116 with about a minute left before Irving countered with a drive of his own.
Thomas responded with two free throws at the other end while Irving subbed out of the game with 47 seconds left during the stoppage in play. Irving seemed to be grabbing at his right hamstring on his way off the floor and remained out the rest of the night.
Irving’s absence left the ball in James’ hands. James tried driving on Celtics guard Marcus Smart, who fouled him with 21 seconds left. James split the free throws to give the Cavs a 120-118 lead, but left the Celtics with a chance to send the game to overtime or win it at the buzzer with a 3-pointer. Jae Crowder’s open look at a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left clanked off the rim and Richard Jefferson grabbed the rebound. The Celtics had a 20-second timeout left but opted not to use it.
Kevin Love scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and James celebrated his 32nd birthday a day early with 23 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. He also committed eight turnovers and shot just 3-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Love scored 11 points in the third quarter and the Cavs built a 101-81 lead late in the third before the Celtics fought back in the fourth. It was reminiscent of a game here 10 months ago against these same Celtics when the Cavs blew a five-point lead in the final 19 seconds and Boston stole the win at the buzzer.
Much like on that night, the Celtics never quit coming. This time, however, the Cavs had just enough of a lead to survive.
Irving passed for 12 assists and grabbed five rebounds and the Cavs made 14 3-pointers after Celtics coach Brad Stevens praised their spacing and ball movement prior to the game.
“That's one of the great things their front office did was bring in the shooters around LeBron,” Stevens said. “As a result, you've got Kevin and Kyrie who can score in variety of ways, and LeBron makes plays. With all that space with everybody else, everybody else is better. If you go through his career path, that's what he's done. He's been a playmaker his whole career. The more shooting the better. They've done a great job putting that on the roster."
Thomas scored 31 points and Avery Bradley scored 23 points for the Celtics, who scored 35 points in the fourth to make the game close in the final minutes.