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The Celtics continue to look for ways to win without Kyrie Irving.
Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart each scored 21 points. Boston (44-31) broke the first leg in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-106 on Tuesday night.
Irving did not play, yet Boston broke a four-game losing streak and improved to 11-2 without his best scorer. The Celtics let slip a 12-point lead, but resumed after the Cavaliers tied the game early in the final period.
"We responded as we should and we responded to each of their races," said Al Horford, who scored 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter and development. "Obviously, we were not perfect, but I was happy about tonight's concentration."
The Celtics ended the game with a 24-14 record, also sparked by Smart's three-point play and Marcus Morris, who left the bench for the first time since Nov. 21.
When they started running, we answered for tonight @jetblue Game of the game pic.twitter.com/QPayPtJRRE
– Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 27, 2019
Collin Sexton led Cleveland with 24 points and Jordan Clarkson scored 18.
Cleveland led 82-70 at the end of the third quarter, but Sexton scored nine points and Marquese Chriss' three-pointer tied the game at 92 with 92 minutes left. Boston has regained momentum. Horford had a basket in the hallway and Gordon Hayward was scoring at the end of a turn-over. The Horford 3-pointer pushed the lead to 100-94.
"I felt like when we did the draw, they scored and the energy left the building a bit," Sexton said.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens also said the responsiveness of his team was crucial.
"When Marquese Chriss made that score of 3 to tie, we came back to Al," said Stevens. "Al go on the field within 5 seconds Chriss' 3 really helps you catch up."
Tatum came back after missing Sunday's loss to San Antonio because of a bruised back and scored all his points in the first period. Horford missed the previous two games due to a left knee injury.
Irving played his first six seasons with Cleveland. The star player six times has requested an exchange after the 2016-17 season and has been transferred to Boston. He has not played in Cleveland since the first game of 2017-18.
Hayward scored 15 points and Morris 14 points. Terry Rozier, a native of northeastern Ohio who played basketball at a Shaker Heights high school, scored 11 points.
Kevin Love has 27 points out of 12,000 in his career. He scored 10 points and 11 rebounds, but was not scored at half-time and finished 3 of 13 on the field.
"In the first half, I did not give the guys what I should have," Love said. "I have to bring it every night for the whole match."
The arena's Humungotron came out late in the first quarter, forcing teams and fans to use the upper dashboards to keep track of all events. The video and the numbers came back shortly after half-time and drew loud applause from the crowd.
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