BOSTON — LeBron James had one of the worst games of his career, shooting 2-for-18 and missing three layups and a 3-pointer in the final minute.

Not that Boston's Paul Pierce or Ray Allen were doing any bragging, either, after combining to match James miss-for-miss.

"I can't play any worse than this, and we got a win," Pierce said Tuesday night after scoring just four points but limiting James to 12 as the Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 76-72 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"Ray can't play as bad as he did, or LeBron," Pierce said. "So I think we're setting ourselves up for an exciting series."

Kevin Garnett scored 28 points to make up for the off night by the other two members of Boston's Big Three, including the go-ahead basket on a turnaround hook shot with 22 seconds left. Then he watched as James drove an open path through the lane but finger-rolled the potential tying shot off the inside of the rim with 8.5 seconds left.

"I missed a lot of shots I know I can make," James said, staring at the stat sheet incredulously.