CLEVELAND: They were without their top two shooting guards and forced to start two rookies in the backcourt. They lost one of their top bench players early in the second quarter and they trailed by 21 in the final minute of the third quarter.
Yet the young and spry Cavaliers nearly did it again to the Boston Celtics, who must be thrilled to be done playing the Cavs for the next month after escaping Quicken Loans Arena with a 93-90 victory on Tuesday.
The Cavs erased an 11-point deficit in the final 4› minutes to steal a victory in Boston on Sunday and nearly did it again at home 48 hours later. Anderson Varejao had 20 points and 20 rebounds and Kyrie Irving had 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as the Cavs pushed the Celtics to the brink. Again.
“They played so hard tonight, it was great to see,” Cavs coach Byron Scott said. “We have to continue to play that hard with so many guys down and still compete the way we competed. I thought it was great. I was very proud of the way they played, how hard they played.”
Anthony Parker again missed the game with a bad back and Daniel Gibson was flying home from a Boston hospital Tuesday, forcing Scott to start undrafted rookie Mychel Thompson alongside the rookie Irving.
Thompson made just 3-of-9 shots, but defended Ray Allen well for most of the night and likely did enough to merit another look should Parker be forced to miss Friday’s game at the Orlando Magic.
As if the Cavs didn’t have enough injuries, Tristan Thompson re-injured the left ankle he sprained 10 days earlier in a game against the Hawks in Atlanta and was forced to sit the bulk of the final three quarters.
In the wake of all the injuries, Varejao and Irving were dynamite.
Varejao had a season high in points and a career high in rebounds while becoming the Cavs’ first 20/20 player since Carlos Boozer had 23 points and 20 rebounds in a game at the Dallas Mavericks on March 30, 2004.
“It’s good to have a game like that,” Varejao said. “But we didn’t take care of the home court. We’re playing better on the road than we’re playing at home and we need to change that. Tough loss.”
Varejao’s 20 rebounds nearly matched the Celtics’ team total of 28.
“Anderson Varejao is a pain in the butt with his offensive rebounding and the way he knocks down shots and the way and keeps balls alive,” the Celtics’ Paul Pierce said. “He’s probably one of the most underrated players in the league. I was kind of joking saying we need to double-team him on the rebound when the ball goes up.”
Irving played a career-high 37› minutes and played the entire fourth quarter for the first time. But Scott, who is typically rigid in his rotations, said Irving playing so many minutes and the entire fourth was a byproduct of the guys who were injured.
“It’s more of a one-night special because of the circumstances, having the two guys out we had out,” Scott said. “I knew I was going to have to play him a lot of minutes tonight, a little more than I would like to play him. I don’t want him playing 36, 37 minutes a game. That’s hard on him right now. Trying to keep it at the 30-32 mark, but tonight it was inevitable. I had to play him that many minutes.”
Irving was visibly tired by the end of the game, but he split defenders and skipped down the lane for a layup to cut the Cavs’ deficit to 89-87 with 1:18 to play. It was eerily similar to his game winner in the final seconds on Sunday, but the Cavs didn’t have enough to close out another thriller.
Kevin Garnett made a big turnaround jumper coming out of a timeout on the Celtics’ next possession and the Cavs didn’t get a good look on their ensuing possession, settling for a long jumper from Varejao as the shot clock expired.
Irving had six assists and only two turnovers and has scored 42 points in the fourth quarter in the past three games combined. Irving said the Cavs’ incredible rally on Sunday fed the belief they could do it again.
“We knew if we got a few stops and made a few shots, we were going to get back into the game,” Irving said. “We just couldn’t finish it out. But the energy was there, the defensive pressure was there. I’m proud of our guys, although we lost. We need to sustain that energy for 48 minutes going forward.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
