BOSTON — LeBron James drove to the basket, the lane surprisingly clear. He reached out toward the rim, rolled the ball off his fingertips . . . and missed.
Again and again (and one more time, when it was too late anyway), James’ shots went awry in the final minute, completing one of the worst nights of his career and giving the Boston Celtics a 76-72 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“This was two heavyweights, just body-punching,” said Kevin Garnett, who scored 28 points. “There was no finesse, no jabs, just an all-out, beat-down, defensive fight.”
Boston held James to 12 points on 2-for-18 shooting; only once in his career has he made fewer baskets. He missed three drives and a 3-pointer in the final minute, including the potential game-tying finger roll with 8.5 seconds left.
“I missed a lot of shots I know I can make,” James said. “I missed layups. Those layups I’ve made my whole life.”
Paul Pierce and Ray Allen of the Celtics weren’t doing any bragging, either. Pierce scored four points on 2-for-14 shooting; combined with Allen’s 0-for-4 from the field for his first scoreless performance in his last 852 games since 1997. They matched the dud James put out there miss-for-miss.
“Me and Ray, we figure if we play him to a standstill . . . we give ourselves the best chance,” Pierce said. “He is not going to go 2-for-18 every game but, hey, we’re going to do our best to try to make him.”
