Final Dime: Celtics 95, Cavaliers 89

LeBron James led both squads with 38 points in Tuesday's loss. Gregory Shamus NBAE/Getty Images

Turns out, LeBron was both the evening’s best player – pouring in 38 points – and also its wisest prognosticator. After an uneven preseason, the Cavaliers have not found their groove. The good news is: they have 81 more games to do so.

Cleveland jumped out to a two-touchdown lead midway through the first quarter, but less than four minutes into the second period, Boston had clawed back to tie the affair at 32. The Celtics would eventually run their lead to 15 before a late Wine and Gold rally fell short – and held on to hand the Cavaliers their second straight opening night loss, 95-89.

Boston out-shot the Cavaliers from the floor, from the stripe and from beyond the arc – holding Cleveland to 41 percent shooting. Three other Cavaliers beside LeBron James netted double-figures, but the leader was Mo Williams with a dozen. Shaquille O’Neal and Anthony Parker added 10 points apiece, with O’Neal grabbing a team-high 10 boards.

LeBron was 12-for-22 from the floor in Tuesday’s loss – adding eight assists, four boards and four blocked shots, including a pair of his trademark “chase-down” blocks – one against Rajon Rondo early and one against Ray Allen late – that sent the sold-out crowd into a frenzy.

“You want to try and see what you have been working on and how you measure up against some of the better teams early in the season,” said James. “I think we all can say that we’ll probably see each other later in the season or into the postseason.”

“You can’t win a championship in the first game,” added Shaq. “We would have liked to start off 1-0, but there are plenty of games left. We’ll be fine…we have to get back at it tomorrow.”

The Cavaliers didn’t get much from their bench on Tuesday night. Big Z led Cleveland’s reserves with six points, but he didn’t get his first points until early in the fourth quarter. Combined, the Cavs bench was just 3-for-11 from the floor and was outscored by Boston’s second team – 26-10.

The Cavaliers won’t have time to meditate on Tuesday’s loss to the Celts, as they embark on three games in the next four nights, including the second half of the season-opening back-to-back on Wednesday night in Toronto.

2. Tuesday night’s game was the 600th all-time in the 16-year history of Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers all-time record on the corner of Huron and Ontario is 374-226 – .624.

3. The Celtics were without their third-year forward, Glen “Big Baby” Davis – who’s out after injuring his thumb in a fight. (Davis is also likely to be suspended for the incident.) Asked about his fellow LSU alum earlier that day in shootaround, Shaq joked: “Well they call him Big Baby for a reason: Because he’s my son. Not a lot of people know that.”

4. Tuesday’s loss snaps a nine-game home winning streak against the Celtics that dated back to the 2005-06 season. Boston’s win on the Cavs home floor also marks the first time in the last 17 meetings that the road team stole a win.

5. The seventh point LeBron James scored on Tuesday gives him 13,000 for his career. As always, that makes him the youngest player to do so at just 24 years, 301 days of age.

6. With the win, the Cavaliers’ all-time mark in home openers is 15-25. In season openers overall, the Cavaliers are now just 10-30.

7. It was all in the family on the final play of the third quarter when Anthony Parker blocked his brother-in-law, Shelden Williams’ shot. Williams is married to Parker’s famous sister – WNBA star Candace Parker.

8. Opening night brought out the stars. Seen at The Q on Tuesday night: Browns special teamer Josh Cribbs, Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

9. In their respective debuts with Cleveland: Shaq doubled-up with 10 points and 10 boards, going 5-for-11 from the floor with a blocked shot. Anthony Parker was 2-for-3 from long-distance and 3-of-9 overall for 10 points. Jamario Moon finished with two points, two boards and a blocked shot.

10. In 20 career games against the Celtics, LeBron is now averaging 30.2 points per contest. The Cavaliers are 12-8 during that span.