James, Cavs stun Celtics
LeBron scored 38 points as the Cavaliers rallied from a 19-point deficit.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James scored 38 points -- 25 in the second half -- and led the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a wild 94-93 win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
The Cavaliers, who trailed 11-0 to open the game and 25-6 in the first, were down by 25 points in the third period and still trailed 82-63 with 10:16 remaining before storming back.
With James driving to the hole nearly every time he touched the ball, the Cavaliers outscored the Celtics 34-17 in the fourth and staged one of the biggest comebacks in franchise history.
The team doesn't have complete play-by-play records, so it's impossible to know if the Cavs have overcome any greater deficit.
Final seconds
James, who came in shooting just 63 percent on free throws, went 19-of-23 from the foul line but he missed a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left. James was short on his first attempt, but intentionally missed the rim on his second try as the final horn sounded.
The Celtics argued that James' miss was a violation and wanted the ball. The officials huddled near halfcourt and gave it to Boston while directing Cleveland's players to return to the floor.
Boston threw a high inbounds pass to Paul Pierce, who caught it but had his potential game-winning 3-pointer rattle off the rim.
James added eight rebounds and five assists in 44 minutes. Sasha Pavlovic added 14 points and made two crucial 3-pointers during Cleveland's comeback.
Pierce scored all of his 19 points in the second half and Sebastian Telfair, who was briefly hospitalized on Friday with shortness of breath, had 15 for the Celtics.
Chipping away
Trailing 82-63 after Tony Allen's three-point play, the Cavaliers began chipping away at Boston's big lead.
James converted a three-point play, Pavlovic hit a jumper and Damon Jones knocked down a 3 from the left wing to make it 82-71 with 8:36 left. After a Boston turnover, Pavlovic hit another 3-pointer and James fed Anderson Varejao underneath to get Cleveland within 84-78.
Cleveland's defense forced Boston into a 24-second shot clock violation and Pavlovic's 3-pointer brought the Cavs to 86-85. Larry Hughes then blocked a shot and scored on a high-arching shot in traffic as the Cavaliers took their first lead at 87-86.
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