Spitting incident angers James, Cavs

Jeff McInnis hit two late 3-pointers to lead Cleveland over Boston.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- It was just another exhibition game, but you'd never know it by the friction between Paul Pierce and LeBron James.
Jeff McInnis hit two 3-pointers in a late 10-0 run to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 95-88 preseason win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
The game included sniping between Pierce and James after a spitting incident late in the third quarter. Angry words were even exchanged in the hallway between the locker rooms after the game.
"It had a little fire to it," Cavaliers forward Scott Williams said of the game.
Drew Gooden, acquired from Orlando in an off-season trade, had 25 points, James scored 21, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 before fouling out and McInnis added 12 for the Cavaliers, now 5-1 in the preseason. McInnis, picked up in a trade with Portland midway through last season, hit the only 3-pointers he took in the game.
Pierce and Gary Payton each scored 14 points and Mark Blount had 13 for the Celtics (1-6).
With the score tied at 83, McInnis hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Cavaliers the lead for good with 3:28 remaining. He later added another 3-pointer from almost the same spot, with Gooden and James each hitting baskets inside during the run.
Angry episode
Late in the third quarter, Pierce spit at the Cleveland bench after yelling at the Cavaliers substitutes to sit down.
"We didn't say nothing to him," Cleveland guard Luke Jackson said. James, sitting nearby, interjected, "Leave my rookie alone. Go ask Paul Pierce."
Pierce had beaten James on a crossover dribble and then hit a fallaway before James answered with a long jumper. James followed up by stealing the ball from Pierce and dunking.
Pierce then confronted the Cleveland bench, leaving the game soon after to a chorus of boos from the crowd of 8,795 at Ohio State's Value City Arena. Both he and James were assessed technicals.
Boston's Ricky Davis, a former Cavalier who trashed his old team and teammates after a trade last season, said the teams don't like each other.
"It started when we made the trade," Davis said.
Back and forth
Boston trailed by as many as 13 points in the opening half. The Celtics took the lead at 80-78 midway through the fourth quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers by Walter McCarty.
Gooden scored 10 of the Cavaliers' first 20 points before going scoreless in the second quarter. Gooden hit 10-of-15 shots from the field and added 10 rebounds, two assists and three steals.
"Drew Gooden was out of this world," Cleveland coach Paul Silas said.
Cleveland, which just missed the playoffs last year with a 35-47 record, has two more exhibition games before opening the season Nov. 3 at home against Indiana.
Dajuan Wagner, expected to contend for playing time at point guard, did not make the trip for the Cavaliers because of a sprained right ankle.