Cavaliers-Celtics Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Jan 28 2012 10:30PM

A recent spate of injuries isn't proving much of an obstacle to the Boston Celtics, thanks in large part to Paul Pierce.

The Cleveland Cavaliers haven't been much of an obstacle for opponents recently.

Pierce looks to continue both his surge and that of his team Sunday night as the Celtics go for a season-high five-game winning streak in the opener of a home-and-home set with the visiting Cavaliers.

Boston (9-9) is currently playing without starters Ray Allen (ankle), Rajon Rondo (right wrist) and Jermaine O'Neal (knee). Rondo has been out five games, while Allen has missed three and O'Neal two.

It's unclear when any of them will return, but the Pierce-led Celtics are managing just fine.

Boston has won four in a row by an average of 13.0 points. Pierce is averaging 26.3 points, 8.8 assists and 7.3 rebounds during the winning streak.

Pierce was stellar again Friday, coming two assists shy of a triple-double in a 94-87 home victory over Indiana. He scored 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter and finished with 10 boards, eight assists, three steals and two blocks.

"I like to come out in the third quarter and just be aggressive," said Pierce, who is averaging 6.5 points in the third this season - 2.1 more than in any other period. "You can make your run. You can't really settle on the lead. I try to focus on extending the lead, being more aggressive and getting better as the game goes on."

Pierce is averaging 24.0 points in his last four home meetings with Cleveland (7-11), all Celtics victories.

Brandon Bass is helping to pick up the scoring slack for Boston, averaging 13.0 points and 7.2 boards over his last six games and entering the starting lineup in place of O'Neal for the last two.

Bass scored 22 points and shot 9 of 10 from the floor in his last meeting with Cleveland, last March 21 with Orlando.

The Celtics took two of three from the Cavs last season, winning 112-95 at home behind 24 points from Pierce on Jan. 25, 2011.

While the Celtics are streaking, the Cavaliers have averaged 89.3 points while dropping five of their last six.

Coach Byron Scott wasn't happy with Cleveland's latest effort, a 99-96 loss at home to New Jersey on Friday after beating New York 91-81 two days prior.

"I don't know if guys thought we've arrived or we can't stand prosperity," Scott said. "We lost the game, period. They played harder than we did for a longer period of time than we did. We got what we deserved. We waited until there was seven minutes left in the game to play harder."

Kyrie Irving, the top overall pick in last summer's NBA Draft, is looking to build on his best performance of the season. The Duke product had 32 points, shot 12 of 20 from the floor and added six rebounds against the Nets.

Irving leads the Cavs with 17.6 points and 4.8 assists per game.

These teams will meet again Tuesday in Cleveland.

Cavs close with 12-0 run to beat Celtics 88-87

By JIMMY GOLEN
Posted Jan 29 2012 9:58PM

BOSTON (AP) It was the same play Cleveland ran at the end of regulation in its third game this season - the third game of Kyrie Irving's NBA career.

He missed that one.

On Sunday night, Cavaliers coach Byron Scott called it again.

"He (learned) not to miss the layup this time," Scott said after Irving made a layup with 2.6 seconds left to give the Cavaliers an 88-87 victory over Boston. "He had that little look in his eye like he wanted it, almost like he wanted to redeem himself."

Irving scored 23 points, including the go-ahead layup in the final seconds as Cleveland scored the last 12 points of the game to snap Boston's four-game winning streak. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft, Irving remembered missing a potential game-winner on the same play when the Cavaliers played Indiana on Dec. 30.

"They gave me the ball at the end of the game and they trusted me to make that shot," said Irving, whose father, former Boston University star Drederick Irving, was in the stands. "So I'm happy that I actually made the shot this time."

Irving scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including six in the 12-0 run that brought the Cavs back for the win. Anderson Varejao scored 18 points and added nine rebounds for Cleveland, which had lost five of six.

Ray Allen returned from an ankle injury and scored 22 points, making 4 of 6 from 3-point range. But he missed a jumper from the left corner when Boston still held a one-point lead on its second-to-last possession.

"This was a bad loss for us," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Not that it was Cleveland; it was that we had the game under control. And we didn't take care of it."

Paul Pierce scored 18 points with six rebounds and five assists and seven turnovers for the Celtics. But he couldn't get a shot off after Boston inbounded the ball with 2.1 seconds left.

After the game, Pierce acknowledged turning the ball over too much. But asked what the Celtics should have done differently in the fourth, when he sat on the bench until the 3:42 mark - Boston still led by eight points at the time - he said, "Maybe I should have played more."

Boston led 87-76 before Cleveland scored eight straight points, including two layups by Varejao, to make it 87-84 with 98 seconds left. After a timeout, Pierce missed a finger roll and Alonzo Gee, who was hacked trying to score on an offensive rebound, sank a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game.

Allen missed from the left corner, and Kevin Garnett grabbed the rebound but traveled. Irving missed for Cleveland and Varejao got the rebound out to Antawn Jamison, who missed a 3-pointer. Boston's Brandon Bass got the rebound but Gee knocked it loose, Varejao went to the floor to corral it and called a timeout.

Irving dribbled down the clock near midcourt, then drove to the basket, spun and laid it in to give Cleveland its first lead in almost 20 minutes.

Pierce got the ball on the inbounds pass and was fouled. He got the ball again on the restart, took one dribble and got off a shot that bounced off the rim as the officials waved it off anyway.

Boston fell to 4-2 since point guard Rajon Rondo went out with a right wrist injury. The Celtics were also without Allen for three games with a sore left ankle.

The Celtics had beaten the Cavaliers twice in a row and five times in their last six meetings, including the last three games of a second-round playoff series in 2010 that was LeBron James' swan song in Cleveland.

Boston led 44-43 at halftime. Cleveland led 55-53 early in the third quarter before Allen hit a 3-pointer to give the Celtics the lead for good and start them on a 14-2 run that gave them the first double-digit lead of the game for either team.

Notes: Cleveland G Anthony Parker had back spasms and did not play in the second half. ... Irving made his first six shots. ... Celtics point guard Avery Bradley went to the locker room in the third quarter with a rolled ankle. He had it re-taped and returned to the game. ... The Celtics held a moment of silence for former Boston mayor Kevin White, who died on Friday.

Notebook: Cavaliers 88, Celtics 87

By Brian Robb, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday January 29, 2012 10:15PM

THE FACTS: Kyrie Irving hit a go-ahead layup with 2.7 seconds remaining to cap a 12-0 run by the Cleveland Cavaliers to close the game and eke out a 88-87 win over the Boston Celtics. The C's appeared to have the game sewn up with a 11-point lead with just 4:24 remaining in the game, but the upstart Cavs did not quit, chipping away at the deficit over the final minutes. The comeback was keyed by Irving (23 points) and Anderson Varejao, (18 points, 9 rebounds) who came through with crucial plays on both ends, before Irving's game-winner. Paul Pierce (18 points) had a chance to win on Boston's final possession, but was unable to get up a shot attempt before the final buzzer sounded. Ray Allen scored a team-high 22 points for Boston in his return from a left ankle injury, as Boston had their four-game winning streak snapped.

QUOTABLE: "It feels good, especially have the confidence of my teammates. They gave me the ball at the end of the game and trusted me to make that shot. It was a tough comeback, but we carried it out and I'm really proud of my teammates."
-- Irving on the comeback and his game-winner.

THE STAT: The Cavaliers had six of their 11 offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, giving themselves the opportunity to score eight pivotal second chance points in the closing frame.

TURNING POINT: Antwan Jamison missed a three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining and the Cavaliers trailing 87-86. Brandon Bass appeared to corral the rebound for Boston, but Varejao managed to pry the ball loose from the C's power forward. The high-energy center was able to come up with the basketball after a scrum on the floor and call timeout for his team, allowing Irving an opportunity to hit his game-winner seconds later.

QUOTABLE II: "I guess the last day and a half of me yelling and screaming about playing hard every night, I guess they got tired of hearing it. They came out and did a great job."
-- Byron Scott on his team's comeback

HOT: Allen. The sharpshooter had missed the past three games with an ankle injury, but showed no signs of rust in his return, hitting 4-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc. Those numbers pushed Allen into a tie for first place in the NBA for 3-point shooting percentage at 57.1.

QUOTABLE III: "This was a bad loss for us. Not that it was Cleveland; it was that we had the game under control. And we didn't take care of it."
- Doc Rivers

GOOD MOVE: Scott dug deep into his bench due to an injury depleted backcourt in the fourth quarter, going with rookie Mychel Thompson at the two spot for the final 12 minutes. The undrafted shooting guard, who had only played two minutes in his NBA career, responded with four points in the frame and helped limit Allen to just four points in the quarter.

BAD MOVE: With Boston clinging to a one-point lead, Kevin Garnett came up with a second-chance opportunity following a Pierce miss with 42 seconds remaining in the contest. Instead of kicking it out to his teammates, Garnett hesitated under Cleveland's defensive pressure. The indecisiveness led to a travel for the All-Star power forward, and a wasted chance for Boston to extend their lead.

NOTABLE: Anthony Parker did not return to the game after halftime because of back spasms. Alonzo Gee saw significant playing time in his place. Avery Bradley left the game in the third quarter after rolling his left ankle. He returned to action after having the ankle re-taped. Daniel Gibson did not suit up due to swelling in his neck. He will be further evaluated when the team returns to Cleveland Monday. Thompson scored the first four points of his career in the fourth quarter. Rivers said before the game Keyon Dooling could miss a significant stretch of games with a hip pointer. Jermaine O'Neal (knee) and Rajon Rondo (wrist) also sat out and remain over the verge of returning to action for Boston, according to Rivers. The two teams will complete the home-and-home matchup Tuesday in Cleveland. Pierce had six of his seven turnovers in the first half. Cleveland outscored Boston in the paint 54-32.

UP NEXT: For the Cavaliers, Tuesday vs. Boston, Friday @ Orlando, Saturday vs. Dallas. For the Celtics, Tuesday @ Cleveland, Wednesday vs. Toronto, Friday vs. New York.

• Cavaliers: Gibson, Harangody
• Celtics: Dooling, Rondo

• Cavaliers: --
• Celtics: --

• Lead Changes: 20
• Times Tied: 17

• Arena: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #31 Scott Wall, #42 Eric Lewis
• Attendance: 18624
• Duration: 2:08