Kyrie Irving scored 40 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 95-90 win over the Boston Celtics.
Boston entered the fourth quarter with a 73-70 lead, but Irving scored 15 points in the final period to take the Cavaliers home. His outstanding performance once again proved Doc Rivers' opinion that Irving should be on the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
"He has all the numbers to be an All-Star, for sure," the Associated Press quoted Rivers as saying. "Whether he makes it or not is another story. ... He's a tough kid, which I don't think people give him enough credit for."
Irving had four layups and three free throws for 11 points with 2.33 remaining in the last quarter to ensure the second straight home victory for the Cavaliers.
For the Celtics, Rajon Rondo lead the scoring with 17 points and chipped in 13 rebounds. Kevin Garnett had 16 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Paul Pierce added 12 points. Garnett played for about 31 minutes in the game and made five out of 13 attempts from the field.
"We've just got to be better, period," Garnett said. "We've got to try to figure this thing out because it's not going to change itself. I want it so bad, but I've got to find a balance. I've got to do better for 48 minutes, man."
For the Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson scored 21 points, chipped in nine rebounds and five assists, while Tyler Zeller finished with six points and 10 rebounds.
The Cavaliers outscored the Celtics 31-27 in the first quarter. Boston answered by limiting Cleveland to 23 and scoring 26 points to cut the Cavaliers' lead to 54-53 at halftime.
Boston kept the momentum going and again outscored the Cavaliers' 20-16 in the third quarter to lead by 3 points.
Irving shot very well in the game as he made 16 out of 24 attempts from the floor, while Cleveland had a total 37-of-82.
Garnett hit four free throws and Alonzo Gee had a basket after which Cleveland was leading 88-87.
Irvin again scored for Cleveland when he drove to the basket for a 3-point lead with 52 seconds left in the game.
Then with the help of Irvin's free throw Cleveland extended the lead to 93-87 with 22.8 seconds remaining. He hit two more free throws with 18.2 seconds remaining to take the game away from Boston.
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