In an epic battle against one of their Eastern Conference rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics by a score of 102-99 on Tuesday night, spoiling Kyrie Irving's return to the city he spent the first six seasons of his career.
What follows is a recap and highlights of the Cavs' dramatic victory. Check out WKYC.com throughout the night for all the highlights and updates from the Cavs' 1-0 start to the 2017-18 regular season.
FINAL: Cavs 102, Celtics 99
Cavs pull it out of Jaylen Brown misses a 3 and Kyrie airballs a would-be game-tying shot. LeBron and Kyrie share an embrace after the game.
46.3 remaining in the 4th: Cavs 102, Celtics 98
A Kevin Love corner 3 pushes the Cavs ahead four points with just under a minute left.
1:04 remaining in the 4th: Cavs 99, Celtics 98
LeBron hits a go-ahead basket and then strips the ball to regain possession. The Q is shaking with excitement.
2:58 remaining in fourth: Celtics 94, Cavs 91
Cavs and Celtics slugging it out down the stretch and Cavs now have possession coming out of timeout. Cleveland closing with its starting five and trying to exploit Irving, who has four fouls, on defense.
6:41 remaining in the 4th: Celtics 84, Cavs 82
Two free throws coming for Kevin Love, but Kyrie has taken this thing over for the Celtics with six early fourth-quarter points. LeBron now has 20 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists.
End of third: Cavs 72, Celtics 71
Wild finish on the way, as the Celtics briefly take the lead before a Derrick Rose buzzer beater to end the quarter regains it for Cleveland. Cavs starting unit has struggled and Boston ended the quarter on a 29-12 run.
8:33 remaining in third: Cavs 61, Celtics 50
Celtics showing some life, thanks to a big quarter from Jaylen Brown, but have also hit with two technicals, including one from Irving for chirping with the Cavs bench.
HALFTIME: Cavs 54, Celtics 38
Cavs continue to pour it on, with LeBron up to 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. For all that's gone wrong for the Celtics, the Cavs have remained focused and taken advantage of the opportunity.
5:30 remaining in second: Cavs 44, Celtics 30
Cavs taking advantage of a clearly deflated Boston team, as the boos continue for Irving, who has 7 points. LeBron already up to 10, 5 and 5 and Jae Crowder showing good range with a 3-pointer from the corner.
End of 1st: Cavs 29, Celtics 19
Cavs end the quarter on a 17-9 run following Hayward's injury and now enter the second quarter with a double-digit lead. J.R. Smith has 6 points off the bench for Cleveland.
2:38 remaining in 1st: Cavs 22, Celtics 17
After Kevin Love left the game with two early fouls, Tristan Thompson helped spark a big run and is heading to the line to try to finish off a 3-point play. Second-year forward Jaylen Brown having a strong game with 7 points.
6:45 remaining in the 1st: Celtics 12, Cavs 9
Kyrie has 4 quick points, but the whole arena is focused on Gordon Hayward, who just had an awkward fall in which he appeared to suffer a severe leg injury. He's being carted off on a stretcher now.
Pregame
