With every shot from Dean Wade that splashed through the net, the Cavaliers drew closer to the Celtics and his confidence grew.
“The edge looked like a swimming pool,” he said.
Wade made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, single-handedly beating the Celtics, and Cleveland won a last-second replay review to beat Boston 105-104 on Tuesday night, ending its longest winning streak NBA streak this season at 11 games.
With Travis and Jason Kelce egging on the Cleveland crowd from their courtside seats, the Cavs overcame a 22-point deficit in the final period, the largest fourth-quarter comeback in franchise history.
“Honestly, when the Kelce brothers started pumping up the crowd, we knew we could do it,” Cavs center Jarrett Allen said.
Cleveland stormed back without All-Star Donovan Mitchell, who missed the game with a knee injury, and also without forward Evan Mobley, who left in the third quarter with a sprained ankle.
Wade, who finished with a career-high 23 points, came to the rescue with his barrage of threes in the fourth and a putback dunk with 19.1 seconds left, putting the Cavs ahead 105-104 .
The Celtics looked for a final shot and All-Star Jayson Tatum, who led Boston with 26 points, appeared to foul Cleveland’s Darius Garland as he nailed a fadeaway jumper with 0.7 seconds left.
The Cavs disputed the call and after review, officials said it was Tatum’s leg that caused the contact and not Garland.
“I thought it was great defense,” said Garland, who wasn’t sure the call would go his way. “I knew the leg kick was in play a little bit. My shin still hurts from it, so I’m glad it fell over.”
Tatum thought Garland made enough contact to warrant free throws.
“I thought I was being fouled, but (the officials) didn’t think I was being fouled, which was difficult because we would have gotten the tip-off,” he said. “It’s a weird way to end the game.”
It was the latest exciting win at home for the Cavs, who beat Dallas last week on Max Strus’ 60-foot shot at the buzzer.
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After Tuesday’s game, Wade, who grew up in Kansas and is a die-hard Chiefs fan, said Travis Kelce made him an offer.
“He said if basketball didn’t work out for me, I could be a backup,” Wade said. “I have good hands. That was just great. Pretty cool.”
The Cavs are counting on Wade to be more consistent, especially since he isn’t at full strength.
“He is a versatile man. He’s not just a spot-up shooter,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said. “We know what he can do defensively. But he has an offensive game and tonight he got it rolling. But the faith, the trust, that is who Dean Wade is at his core.”
Kristaps Porzingis scored 24 points and Jaylen Brown had 21 for Boston, which lost for the first time since Feb. 1. The Celtics won by more than 40 points three times during that stretch.
“That’s what happens when you don’t slow down and you don’t put an NBA team aside,” Brown said. “Tip your hat to Dean Wade. He got hot, but we should have won that game. We haven’t really seen a team storm back like that. Today was a loss of mentality. We had the game. Shouldn’t have happened.”