Fourth quarter

:00: Celtics, 95-89. Paul Pierce (23 points) sealed the victory with two foul shots with 11.3 seconds remaining. LeBron James (38 points) hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, then missed the last shot, Rajon Rondo rebounding.

:15.6: CELTICS, 93-86. Cleveland failed to get a shot out of a timeout, a James pass going off Parker, the ball bouncing into the Celtic bench with 53.4 seconds left. The Celtics then called a timeout, Pierce converting out of the timeout with :02 on the shot clock. Anderson Varejao cut the Cav deficit with a free throw, then James dunked off a steal, pulling Cleveland within 91-86 with 17 seconds left. Pierce restored the 7-point edge with two free throws, Cleveland calling a 20-second timeout.

1:03: CELTICS 89-83. Paul Pierce landed a jumper out of the timeout. O'Neal missed two foul shots and Garnett banked in a turnaround against O'Neal on the low post to give the Celtics an 87-79 advantage with 2:45 remaining. Foul shots by Mo Williams and James pulled Cleveland within 4. Then, Rajon Rondo stole an offensive rebound from O'Neal; but Ray Allen missed a '3' and Rondo failed to convert the follow, going down hard against O'Neal. That led to a Cavalier transition opportunity, James missed, and Pierce converted a pullup for a 6-point Celtic edge.

4:16: CELTICS 83-79. Perkins broke a 4:33 Celtic drought with a 3-point play off a Pierce assist, stretching the lead to 83-76 with 5:32 remaining. But Garnett missed and James' 3-pointer cut the Cavalier deficit to 4 with 4:51 left. After a Perkins miss, James was called for a carry and a timeout was called.

5:52: CELTICS, 80-75. The Cavaliers' extra-large lineup seemed to knock the Celtics off balance. Ilgauskas scored 4 points and James two free throws, cutting the Cleveland deficit to 5. Kevin Garnett missed an open dunk. But Pierce drew a James charge before a timeout was called.

8:42: CELTICS, 80-71. Newcomers Marquis Daniels, Rasheed Wallace, and Shelden Williams were in the Celtic lineup to start the final quarter. Wallace and Daniels hit 3-pointers, then Wallace a 20-footer for an 80-69 advantage. Zydrunas Ilgauskas then cut the Cavalier deficit with a 17-footer. And the Cavaliers went to a two 7-footer lineup with Ilgauskas and Shaquille O'Neal before a timeout was called.

Third quarter

0:00: CELTICS, 72-65. Rasheed Wallace's free throw gave the Celtics a 72-61 edge with 68 seconds to go. Then, LeBron James drew a foul on a layup, but missed the foul shot. The Celtics took a 66-52 lead on Rajon Rondo's layup following a steal with 5:48 remaining. But James and Mo Williams led a Cavalier rally. James blocked a Ray Allen layup attempt and scored 7 points in the final 2:06 of the quarter, missing a layup just before the buzzer.

6:37: CELTICS, 62-52. The Celtics called a timeout after surrendering a Shaquille O'Neal dunk and Anthony Parker 3-pointer on successive possessions. Ray Allen's free throw following a defensive three seconds technical foul extended the edge to 62-47 with 8:26 remaining. But the Celtics lost possession on a shot-clock violation, producing only a double-pump 21-foot airball by Paul Pierce in the half-court offense, then failed to score on their next two possessions.

9:20: CELTICS, 61-47. The Celtics started the second half with a 10-2 run. Kendrick Perkins hit a layup 19 seconds into the half, than a 15-footer, following a LeBron James's jumper with two seconds on the shot clock. Kevin Garnett converted two foul shots, recovering from a Shaquille O'Neal wrap-up foul, and twice pumping his chest with his right hand. Rajon Rondo scored on a reverse layup, then found Garnett for a 14-point advantage with 9:22 remaining in the third quarter, the Cavaliers then calling a timeout.

Second quarter

0:00: CELTICS, 51-45. Ray Allen landed two transition "3s" in the final three minutes. Kendrick Perkins's 15-footer provided the Celtics with a 46-45 edge with 91 seconds remaining. Allen then hit a 3-pointer, giving the Celtics a 49-45 lead with a minute left. LeBron James converted on a drive with 35.2 seconds remaining, but the score was annulled later in the quarter for a shot-clock violation. Paul Pierce then drew a foul with 2.8 seconds to go. Kevin Garnett was issued a technical after confronting official Steve Javie. But Daniel Gibson missed the technical shot, then Pierce hit two free throws, before Gibson missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

2:11: Cavs 44, Celtics 44. After a Jamario Moon alley-oop dunk over Kevin Garnett and a Shaquille O'Neal second-chancer, Ray Allen's transition 3-pointer gave the Celtics a 2-point lead. Then, Anthony Parker tied it with 2:24 remaining.

4:31: Celtics, 41-38. Pierce's free throws extended a 27-12 Celtic run over an 11:05 span covering the first two quarters.

4:31: Celtics, 39-38. Paul Pierce's 3-pointer gave the Celtics their first lead of the game with 4:56 remaining. Shaquille O'Neal missed, then Pierce drew a foul, going to the line with a chance to extend the advantage as a timeout was called.

7:00: Celtics tie, 34-34. Rasheed Wallace's 3-pointer tied the score, 32-all, with 7:49 remaining. Then, Anderson Varejao's set shot restored Cleveland's advantage, before Marquis Daniels's banker at the shot-clock buzzer.

8:55: CAVALIERS, 30-28. The Celtics went to a three-guard lineup -- Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels, and Eddie House joining Rasheed Wallace and Shelden Williams -- at the start of the second quarter. The move paid off as Allen was able to post up Daniel Gibson, House converted a 3-pointer, and Williams two foul shots, cutting the deficit to 2.

First quarter

0:00 -- CAVALIERS, 28-21. The Celtics closed the quarter with a 7-2 run over the final 3:36. Rasheed Wallace made his Celtics' debut with 4:54 remaining, Boston trailing, 26-14. A Wallace '3,' Marquis Daniels banker, and two Shelden Williams foul shots cut the deficit to 7. Then, Daniels stripped LeBron James just before the buzzer, preventing the Cavaliers from taking the final shot of the quarter.

2:32 -- CAVALIERS, 28-17. The Cavaliers got off to a 13-2 lead in the season-opener Tuesday night, the Celtics calling a timeout. Paul Pierce airballed a jumper out of the timeout. But Kevin Garnett blocked two Anderson Varejao attempts, leading to a Pierce transition dunk. The Celtics regained their composure, cutting the deficit to 26-17 on Rasheed Wallace's second-chance 3-pointer. Daniel Gibson increased the Cleveland lead after a Rondo dunk attempt was blocked by LeBron James.