Celts Upset By Hickson, Cavs

The Celtics got caught in a classic "trap game" tonight, and fell to the Cavaliers 95-87. After knocking off the Miami "superteam" last night, Boston was expected to blow out LeBron's ex-team. However, Cleveland played hard-nosed basketball for 48 minutes in its debut.

J.J. Hickson scored a game-high 21 points for the Cavs, while six others reached double-digits. Rajon Rondo led the way for Boston with 17 points and nine assists. Kevin Garnett also tallied nine points, while pulling down 15 boards. Glen "Big Baby" Davis played well off the bench, scoring 14 points on 7-11 shooting from the field.

Hickson sparked the Cavs early, scoring ten of his team's first 14 points. He displayed an impressive array of shots throughout the game, converting on jumpers, drives, hooks, and free throws. Cleveland fans have a lot to be excited about based on his play. The Celtics were able to take a 23-21 lead into the second quarter.

The battle continued into the second quarter. Cavs guard Ramon Sessions scored eight points in the frame, filling in for an injured Mo Williams. Boston played it's trademark team basketball and closed the half on a 5-0 run. The Celtics led 47-46 at the break. KG and Big Baby combined for 17 points in the first 24 minutes of regulation.

The C's were able to establish an 11 point lead on back-to-back buckets by Rondo and Paul Pierce with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter. Unfortunately, they could not protect that lead, and let Cleveland climb back into the contest. The Cavs closed the quarter on a 13-7 run and trailed 68-73 going into the final period.

The Cavaliers carried that momentum into the fourth quarter. The two teams With just over two minutes left in the game, Cleveland led 86-84. J.J. Hickson had to inbound the ball with only one second left on the shot clock. He found Anthony Parker who hit a very difficult shot from beyond the arc to give the Cavs a five point lead. Davis then answered with a bucket in the paint and took a Hickson charge to give the C's the ball back with just 35 seconds to go.

After a Pierce miss, Davis was called for a foul on a blatant flop by Anderson Varejao. The Brazilian Baby hit both his foul shots to re-extend the Cleveland lead to five. The Cavs held on and came away with a 95-87 victory. Pierce, Allen, and KG scored a whole three points in the final twelve minutes.

Boston plays its next game back in Boston against the Knicks at 7:30 PM.