Celtics shut down "King James" to take the opener 76-72

Garnett scored 28 points, including the go-ahead layup with 21 seconds remaining as the Boston Celtics edged the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 76-72 on Tuesday night in the opener of their Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal series.

 "This was a defensive game, tonight," Garnett said. "This was two heavyweights throwing body punches at each other. There was no finesse, no jabs, just a beat down defensive fight."

   NBA scoring champ James shot an icy two-of-18 from the floor and finished with 12 points, including a mere two in the second half for the Cavaliers.

 "I missed a lot of shots I know I can make," said James, who managed to accumulate nine rebounds, nine assists and committed a whopping 10 turnovers. "I missed layups. Those layups I've made my whole life."

   "One-on-one he's tough," said the Celtics' Paul Pierce, who had the unenviable task of guarding "King James." "We just try to direct him where the help is and make his finish tough at the rim.

 "He's not going to go two-for-18 every game, but we're going to go out there and do our best to make him."

   Rajon Rondo had 15 points and veteran backup guard Sam Cassell added 10 of his 13 in the pivotal final frame, helping the Celtics overcame 23 turnovers.

 "That was a beautiful win," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Not many things went our way, but I loved the way we played defence. To get away with 23 turnovers and win the game was fantastic."

   The Celtics won despite receiving just four points from Pierce, while fellow All-Star Ray Allen went scoreless for the first time since February 1996.

 "Me and Ray played LeBron to a standstill, because we combined to go 2-18 also," Pierce laughed. "We give ourselves the best chance."

   However, Pierce said he didn't mind sacrificing his offence in favour of slowing down James, if it resulted in a victory.

 "I'm at a point in my career that I don't care about my stats," he said. "I'm just trying to help my ball club win. I can't play no worse than this and we got a win."

   Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 points with 12 rebounds to pace the defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers, who shot an anemic 31 per cent from the field.

 "The Celtics are the best defensive team in the league, so you have to give them credit," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "They did a nice job of making their paint look crowded and tried to contest our shooters from the perimetre."

   The Cavaliers will look to level the series in game two at Boston on Thursday night.

 In a defensive struggle, the two clubs battled evenly, even though James struggled mightily throughout.

 With the game knotted at 70-70 on Garnett's basket, James looked to give the Cavs the lead, but he missed a driving scoop layup off the glass with 55 seconds left.

 Cassell's two free throws with 53 seconds left snapped the tie, until Igauskas tipped in a James miss, knotting the game for the final time at 72-72.

 On the ensuing play, Garnett drove past Joe Smith for a spinning layup, giving the Celtics a 74-72 edge with 21.4 ticks to go.

 "I was being aggressive," Garnett said. "I got to the lane, took my time, took a good shot and that was it."

   The Cavs called timeout with 22 seconds left to set up a play for James. He drove through two defenders, but his finger roll layup bounced off the rim with 8.5 seconds left. James Posey grabbed the rebound and made both free throws after being fouled.

 James then missed a meaningless three-pointer, ending his night of frustration.

 "It's unusual to see LeBron have a tough night from the field," Brown concluded. "He's entitled to it, and he'll bounce back the next game."