Rajon Rondo finishes with 13 points and a ridiculous 19 assists, and five more Celtics — the rest of the starting five plus Rasheed Wallace off the bench as well — all finish in double figures.
A huge statement win for the Celtics heading home, as home-court advantage has now shifted back to the men in green.
See you in Boston — Game 3 will be Friday night within the friendly confines of the TD Garden.
Fourth quarter, 2:15, Celtics 97-83: The Celtics finally stop settling for jumpers down the stretch, with Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen each getting a good look inside. Just like that, the lead is back to 14.
Barring a catastrophic final two minutes, the C's should be safe after all.
Fourth quarter, 3:28, Celtics 93-81: The Cavs' run hits 15-0, but Paul Pierce snaps out of it by driving the lane and scoring easily on the smaller Mo Williams. Now Mike Brown needs a timeout.
The Cavs have come a long way to get back into this game, but the fact remains: They're still down 12. That's a pretty big lead with under four minutes to play.
Fourth quarter, 5:45, Celtics 91-77: The Cavs have rattled off an 11-0 run faster than you can say, "til the fat lady sings." Doc Rivers does not look happy.
The Celtics are scoreless in their last three-plus minutes. They need to spring to life now if they want to keep this lead safely in double digits.
Fourth quarter, 6:50, Celtics 91-70: Things get ugly when Paul Pierce clotheslines Mo Williams with no remorse, dropping him to the floor. They soon get even uglier.
Apparently, a belligerent Cleveland fan has thrown a beer bottle onto the floor in the middle of a play, getting himself thrown out of Quicken Loans Arena in a hurry.
This prompts an PA announcement at the Q reminding fans that throwing things onto the floor is subject to arrest.
No kidding.
Let the players play. There's no room for that garbage.
Fourth quarter, 9:41, Celtics 89-66: Earth to Cleveland: You're really, really, really in trouble when you let Rasheed Wallace throw down a one-handed dunk like that, uncontested.
The Celtics' lead is still over 20, and smart money says it's staying there for good. The Cavs appear ready to pack their bags for Boston.
End of third quarter, Celtics 83-60: There's no better team in the NBA than the Cavs at pulling off come-from-behind wins. And there's probably no playoff team you'd trust less with a lead than the shaky Celtics. But this might be just too big a lead for the Cavs to overcome.
The Celtics outscore Cleveland 31-12 in the third quarter, including 10 points from Ray Allen. They appear to be cruising to a blowout win in Cleveland and a 1-1 road split to start this Eastern Conference semifinal.
Third quarter, 2:39, Celtics 78-57: The Celtics have widened their lead to a whopping 21. LeBron James is playing out of his mind — but not in a good way.
You can sense the frustration building for the Cavs, who are trying to push too hard, trying to do too much, too fast. The Celtics can finish this win by being the calmer, more poised team down the stretch.
Third quarter, 4:57, Celtics 72-57: Double technicals for Kendrick Perkins and Anderson Varejao. Perk had better watch it with that elbow in the direction of Varejao's head — that looked dangerously close to the move that got KG a one-game suspension in the last series.
Composure is key for the Celtics in big games like this one, and they know it. They've got to keep their cool.
Third quarter, 6:30, Celtics 69-55: The Celtics have their biggest lead of the game now, at 14. A frustrating third quarter so far for the Cavaliers, who are executing well but the shots aren't falling.
Kevin Garnett is starting to come alive after a rough first half, shooting-wise. He's been a rock for the Celtics on both ends of the floor since halftime.
Third quarter, 9:13, Celtics 62-53: Ray Allen continues to be a silent assassin for the Celtics. He's now 5-of-7 from the field and a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point range.
Behind the hot shooting of Allen and Kevin Garnett, the C's have widened their lead again. But they still can't afford to let up, not even one bit.
Halftime, Celtics 52-48: The Celtics have held this lead with their starters on the floor, and they've held it with their second unit. But the one constant has been Rajon Rondo, and man, he's been good.
Rondo's been on the floor for the Celtics for every single millisecond of this first half, and he's got eight points, 12 assists and two rebounds to show for it. He continues to lead this Celtics offense with poise, unselfishness and ridiculous athleticism.
If the C's want to protect this lead better than they did in Game 1, Rondo will be key. He's got to keep the Celtics on top.
Second quarter, 4:35, Celtics 42-40: Behind the aggression of Anderson Varejao and Antawn Jamison, the Cavaliers have charged back into this basketball game.
The Celtics have lost their fire a bit offensively — they're not seeking out good shots the way they were earlier in this second quarter. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett need to keep the intensity flowing on both ends.
Second quarter, 8:42, Celtics 35-28: No sooner had the Celtics finished their 12-0 run than the Cavaliers rattled off a 6-0 streak of their own. The Cavs are winning the war inside, and it's making a big difference.
Doc Rivers opts for a timeout, presumably to tell his guys that now is no time to get complacent. They've got to remain focused — no lead is secure against King James and the Cavs.
Second quarter, 10:25, Celtics 35-22: Say hello to vintage Rasheed Wallace, and say hello to a 12-0 Boston run and a massive second-quarter lead.
Rasheed is playing like it's 2004 all over again — hustling for rebounds, knocking down shots all over the place, even sharing the ball occasionally. He's perfect from the floor with two 2s and two 3s, so you can do the math — a game-high 10 points.
Can't say enough good things about the energy of Glen Davis, either. Big Baby has made some big plays, outworking the bigger Cavaliers and scrambling for offensive rebounds like a champ.
This game has taken a huge turn in the Celtics' favor.
End of first quarter, Celtics 26-22: The C's widen their lead with an outburst of bench scoring from Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis, but the Cavs come roaring back.
LeBron and J.J. Hickson make a couple of nice hustle plays to put the ball in the hole, trimming the Boston lead down to one. It takes a shot-clock buzzer-beating 3 from Rajon Rondo to open the lead back to four.
How about Rasheed, proving he can play on the low post on both ends of the floor?
And how about Rondo, who's now 5-for-8 in this postseason from 3-point range?
A lot of encouraging things are happening for the Celtics. Let's see if they can keep it up.
First quarter, 3:10, Celtics 16-15: LeBron's not taking long to show everyone why he's the MVP.
He's not just a great one-on-one scorer — he's an amazing passer, too, which he shows here with a beautiful pass to Anthony Parker on the wing. Another trey for Parker.
The Celtics are starting to look sloppy with the ball, turning it over a little too much for Doc Rivers' liking. Expect to see Doc dig deep into his bench, and fast.
First quarter, 6:10, Celtics 13-7: The first quarter of Game 2 is looking an awful lot like the first quarter of Game 1. Both teams execute well, but the Cavs' shots don't fall.
A 3 from Anthony Parker helps the Cavs keep this one respectable early, but the Celtics are hitting on all cylinders and thoroughly outshooting the Cavaliers early, 60.0 percent to their 33.3.
The C's can't get cocky now. Shooting numbers like these have a way of evening themselves out.
First quarter, 9:12, Celtics 5-2: Early on, both teams are doing a tremendous job of plugging up the middle defensively.
Both LeBron and Paul Pierce have been forced to settle for long-range jumpers early; Pierce has hit one of his two attempts from 3-point range, giving Boston an early lead.
The C's need to keep the defensive intensity going. Consistency is key.
8:05 p.m.: The Celtics breathe a collective sigh of relief as LeBron James keeps his MVP acceptance speech short and sweet. Time for basketball.
8 a.m.: For three quarters of Saturday night's Eastern Conference semifinal opener, the Celtics looked to finally have the Cleveland Cavaliers' number. They were playing smart, unselfish, balanced basketball, and they looked well on their way to a win in Game 1 at Quicken Loans Arena.
In the fourth, it came apart.
The Celtics came unraveled down the stretch, and they're now buried in a 1-0 hole with Game 2 in Cleveland coming up Monday night. They'll be looking for redemption after a heartbreaking collapse in the series opener.
It's not just about LeBron James — these Celtics have to come ready to stop all five Cavaliers on the floor. Any one of them can beat you on any given night.
