James powers Cavaliers past Celtics

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 27 points and 11 boards for the Cavaliers, who won for the fifth time in six games. Larry Hughes chipped in with 14 points, while Drew Gooden finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Tony Allen tallied 22 points for the Celtics, who lost for the seventh time in eight games. Gerald Green netted 21 points off the bench and Al Jefferson added 18 and 12 rebounds.

Cleveland led by six entering the fourth quarter and continued to hold Boston at arm’s length as the game headed toward the stretch. But, the Celtics used a Delonte West driving layup and a pair of free throws by Wally Szczerbiak to draw within a bucket, 103-101, with 1:06 left.

The Cavs immediately went to James, who missed a turnaround jumper from the left baseline. But, Ilgauskas was there to clean up and make it 105-101 with 42.9 seconds on the clock.

Less than eight seconds later Green deposited a layup to make it 105-103. After Hughes came up empty on the other end, Boston had a chance to tie. Allen drove down the lane and drew contact from Anderson Varejao. The guard missed the front end, however, and the Celtics trailed 105-104 with 8.5 seconds left.

Boston immediately fouled James and the All-Star calmly drained two from the line to make it a three-point game, 107-104, with 7.6 ticks left.

Szczerbiak had a chance to tie it at the buzzer with a three from the top of the circle but the ball fell harmlessly off the rim and Cleveland held on for the win.

The Celtics took a slim 21-19 advantage after the opening 12 minutes and extended their lead to five, 54-49, at intermission.

But, the Cavs closed out the third quarter with 16-3 run to ease in front heading to the final frame. James’ triple at the buzzer capped the burst and made it an 82-76 game.

Game Notes

The Cavs have beaten Boston seven consecutive times and have won four consecutive times in Beantown...Szczerbiak finished with 13 points for Boston while Sebastian Telfair and West each had 10.