Celtics grab gritty wire-to-wire win as Boston bests Cleveland 116-107

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Celtics defeated the visiting Cavaliers 116-107 Thursday night.

The Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night, grabbing a 116-107 victory. With the win, the Celtics improve to 12-0 at home to open the year, the best such mark since the 2007-08 season.

This was the second matchup in three nights between the two clubs. On Tuesday, Boston grabbed a 120-113 win, erasing an icy start that saw the Celtics score a season-low 21 points in the first quarter. Things looked a bit different here on Thursday, and the Celtics scored 33 points on 12-for-20 shooting from the field in the first period alone. That said, turnovers and bad fouls kept Boston from building a big lead, a consistent theme throughout the night.

Regardless, five Celtics players scored 14 or more points. It wasn’t always pretty, but here’s what you may have missed from a 116-107 Celtics win.