CLEVELAND — Avery Bradley’s 3-pointer from the corner gave the Boston Celtics a stunning 104-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night when they rallied from five points down in the final 20 seconds.
The Cavaliers seemed to have the victory sealed when guard J.R. Smith grabbed an offensive rebound off forward LeBron James’ missed 3-pointer with 22 seconds left. Guard Kyrie Irving made a pair of 3-pointers to give the Cavaliers a 101-96 lead, but Smith fouled swingman Evan Turner on a drive to the basket with four seconds left.
The Celtics trailed 103-99 when Smith fouled Turner after he drove to the basket and scored. Turner missed the free throw, but the ball went out of bounds on the Cavaliers, leaving the Celtics with possession and one final shot to win it.
Bradley made a 3-pointer over outstretched guard Iman Shumpert, stunning a sellout crowd and handing the Cavaliers just their fourth home loss of the season.
James scored 30 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough on a night the Cavaliers lost forward Kevin Love to another injury against the Celtics.
Guard Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points and Turner had 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists off the bench for the Celtics, who squandered a 92-85 lead with 3:18 left, only to rally and win at the buzzer.
Smith scored 20 points before fouling out on the critical foul against Turner and Irving had 19 points and six assists for the Cavaliers.
Now the Cavaliers will wait to learn the severity of Love’s latest injury. His run of bad luck against the Celtics continued when he left the game late in the third quarter with a bruised left thigh and did not return.
Love was bumped by Thomas under the basket Friday with two minutes left in the quarter.
Love dropped to the ground and was writhing in pain on the baseline. He had to be helped to the bench and later limped to the locker room under his own power.
Love left the game with 10 points and five rebounds, although he had eight points and four rebounds after the first quarter.
NOTES: F Jae Crowder did not participate in Friday’s shoot-around but played through a sprained right ankle against the Cavaliers. He was injured Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons. … Cavaliers G J.R. Smith was not invited to the 3-point shooting event at All-Star weekend. He has never been invited despite ranking 18th all time in 3-pointers made. F LeBron James campaigned for him to make the team last month but to no avail. “I might take the Marshawn Lynch approach on this one, so I don’t get fined,” Smith said. “I got a lot to say about it, but I’m not going to say anything because it’s not going to help it.” … Cavaliers G Matthew Dellavedova missed his second game with a sore left hamstring. Coach Ty Lue indicated Dellavedova could miss Saturday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans as well.
Hawks 102, Pacers 96
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks needed a spark. Forward Al Horford provided it.
Horford had back-to-back momentum-shifting dunks late in the third quarter and stayed hot in the fourth quarter, fueling the Hawks’ 102-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at Philips Arena.
Atlanta All-Star forward Paul Millsap had 24 points, and Horford finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He scored seven in the fourth quarter, but it was his pair of dunks late in the third quarter that sparked the Hawks.
Trailing 72-69 late in the third quarter, Horford ripped off back-to-back dunks that flipped the momentum and helped lead the Hawks to their third straight win. On the first jam, Horford pump-faked at the elbow of the free-throw line, took dribble to his right and threw a dunk down a one-handed facial on Indiana center Solomon Hill.
On the second dunk, Horford snuck behind the Pacers’ defense on the next possession, and point guard Dennis Schroder found him for a two-handed jam that gave the Hawks a 73-72 heading into the fourth quarter.
Schroder hit an early 3-pointer and jumper early in the fourth quarter, and point guard Jeff Teague converted a traditional three-point play that put Atlanta head 81-76 with 6:39 to play.
Indiana guard Paul George led the Pacers with 31 points. The All-Star hit two three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including one from the left wing that gave Indiana an 86-84 lead with 4:49 to play.
Horford answered with a jumper with the shot-clock running down and his only 3-pointer of that game to put the Hawks back in front.
Indiana guard C.J. Miles came off the bench to score 13 points, including a contested 3-pointer midway through fourth quarter to keep Indiana close. Forward Lavoy Allen scored 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading the Pacers’ dominating performance on the glass. Indiana out-rebounded the Hawks 52-32, but also turned it over 20 times.
The Pacers led 51-50, after a back-and-forth first half that featured seven lead changes. Millsap had 16 points in the first half. Georgia had 14, 12 coming in the first quarter.
Both teams entered February in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. The Hawks (30-22) began the night in third place. The Pacers (26-24) began the night in seventh. Only two games separated the third through seventh place in the conference, heading into the weekend.