The Boston Celtics (37 - 42) defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers (51 - 28) 99 - 90 on Friday in Cleveland. With the Cavaliers solidified as the No. 2 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, they did not try particularly hard to win this game, starting with sitting Kyrie Irving (hip) to make sure he stays healthy. Regardless, the Celtics took advantage, picking up a huge victory as they fight to stay in the playoffs. Marcus Smart led the way scoring for Boston, posting 19 points on 7 - of - 10 shooting in 34 minutes. Avery Bradley was close behind, scoring 15 points (7 - 12 FG) in 31 minutes. The Celtics starting frontcourt of Tyler Zeller and Brandon Bass combined to score 25 points and grab 11 rebounds. Boston's final starter, Evan Turner, struggled shooting the ball and only scored four points, but still managed to dish out 13 assists and grab six rebounds. Isaiah Thomas, as he has done so well since joining the Celtics, provided solid production off the bench, scoring 17 points (4 - 12 FG, 2 - 6 3Pt) in 23 minutes. The victory keeps Boston in the playoff chase, as they are tied with the Nets for the final playoff spot, but currently hold the tiebreaker. They are 2 games behind the Bucks for sixth place. For Cleveland this was essentially a night off, as both Lebron James and Kevin Love played less than their normal load of minutes and sat out during crunch time. James scored 14 points (5 - 14 FG, 0 - 5 3Pt) and dished out seven assists in 26 minutes, while Kevin Love scored 19 (6 - 12 FG, 4 - 8 3Pt) and grabbed six rebounds in 31 minutes. Timofey Mozgov played just 17 minutes, but scored 13 points, and J.R. Smith scored zero points in 18 minutes. Mike Miller was the only other Cavalier player to score in double figures with 11. Up next, these teams will both head to Boston on Sunday for a rematch.
["TeamStat(G,'Cavaliers') has 28 Losses ,has 90 Total points ,has 51 Points in 3rd quarter ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Celtics') has 42 Losses ,has 99 Total points ,has 25 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 37 Wins ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Evan Turner') has 13 Assists ,has 4 3-pointers attempted ,has 6 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Avery Bradley') has 12 Assists ,has 7 3-pointers attempted ,has 31 3-pointers made ,has 15 Field goals attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Marcus Smart') has 10 Assists ,has 7 3-pointers attempted ,has 34 3-pointers made ,has 19 Field goals attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Isaiah Thomas') has 6 Assists ,has 2 3-pointers attempted ,has 12 3-pointers made ,has 4 Field goals attempted ,has 23 Field goals made ,has 17 Minutes played ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'LeBron James') has 7 Assists ,has 5 3-pointers attempted ,has 0 3-pointers made ,has 14 Field goals attempted ,has 5 Field goals made ,has 26 Minutes played ,has 14 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kevin Love') has 8 Assists ,has 4 3-pointers attempted ,has 12 3-pointers made ,has 6 Field goals attempted ,has 31 Field goals made ,has 19 Minutes played ,has 6 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Timofey Mozgov') has 17 Assists ,has 13 3-pointers attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'JR Smith') has 18 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Mike Miller') has 11 Assists ."]