CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland made two free throws with 9.4 seconds left and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from 19 points down in the third quarter to beat the Boston Celtics 91-89 on Saturday night to open a two-game set.
Dennis Schroder had an opportunity to force overtime for Boston, but missed a jumper from the right baseline as time expired. There were five lead changes and seven ties in the final seven minutes.
The teams will meet again Monday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Celtics built their largest lead at 72-53 with 3:05 left in the third, but the Cavaliers answered with a 24-4 run to go ahead 77-76 on Ricky Rubio’s free throw with 6:43 remaining in the game.