Irving, Cavaliers hold off late Celtics charge

The Celtics trailed by 18 points entering the fourth quarter, but they cut the deficit to a point four times in the final two minutes.

James scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter of his last game before his 32nd birthday, which is Friday, and the Cavs edged the Celtics 124-118. Jae Crowder and Horford, though, each had three triples to help Boston improve to 20-14.

Amazingly, Thomas, who came in averaging 6.3 assists per game, didn’t have a single assist – and heard chants of “M-V-P” from the home crowd in the latter stages of the game.

But it didn’t get to that point because James swiped the ball from Boston’s Al Horford, sealing the victory with a pair of Love freebies.

James Johnson had his best game of the season, scoring 22 points on 8-13 shooting and six rebounds, but it wasn’t enough on a night where Thomas couldn’t miss when it mattered the most.

Thomas hit six 3-pointers and converted a three-point play in the fourth quarter and broke the franchise record of 24 points in a quarter set by Larry Bird in 1983 and matched by Todd Day in 1995.

“Just realizing the amount of attention I’m commanding when I get in the paint”, he said. The Cavs also lost track of floor-spacing Jonas Jerebko a few times. “He just wanted me to see his new place”. The Heat has been struggling with their offense and when we add that Boston is in a pretty decent shape lately and that they won two of their games so far this season, both in Miami, the outcome is pretty obvious.

Thomas’ play has made the Celtics one of the toughest teams to beat in the Eastern Conference.

Westbrook had 19 points in the first two quarters but committed the bulk of the Thunder’s 11 turnovers in the half.

“I don’t ever think that there’s a finish line, ” said Stevens before practice Wednesday afternoon, “because if you take your foot off the gas in this league, you’ll get pounded”. The Golden State Warriors ran away in the second half when they visited Boston in November and the Celtics missed an opportunity to steal a win in Houston in early December.

Chicago spent the rest of the game playing catch-up.

“We were still able to keep our composure even when it was down to a one-point and made timely shots”, James said.

A driving basket by Isaiah Thomas pulled Boston to 117-116 with just over a minute to play when Irving countered with a driving layup of his own.

For a Boston team trying to insert themselves with the best teams in the conference, there are no moral victories.

“He took me to his new place in Atlanta one time, and it was sort of amusing because I told him, ‘You know, hanging out at a bar is really not my thing, ‘” said Ainge.

The most challenging month on the Celtics’ 2016-17 schedule is about to end with games on back-to-back nights.