NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving poured in game-high 32 points as the reigning league's champion Cleveland Cavaliers got away with a hard-fought 124-118 triumph over the determined Boston Celtics in Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday evening.

According to the official website of the NBA, the victory kept the Cavaliers' hold on the top of the Eastern Conference team standing with a 24-7 win-loss record, while the Celtics suffered their 14th loss of the season.

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Cleveland improved to 17-2 at home and has won eight of its last 10 games played, while Boston, which currently ranks third in the East, dropped to 12-8 on road and lose four of the last 10 matches contested.

According to Yahoo Sports, the visiting team was trailing by 18 points going in to the final 12 minutes of the ballgame, but the Celtics managed to cut the deficit to within a single point.

Starting guard Isaiah Thomas successfully pulled Boston to 117-116 after a completing a driving basket with just over a minute left in the game clock. However, Irving, who left the match with 47 ticks remaining after suffering with a tight right hamstring, was able to stretch the Cavaliers' lead he scored with a driving layup of his own to make it 119-116.

Thomas went to the free throw line and made both of the charity shots after being fouled on the Celtics' next possession to close within one point.

LeBron James, who finished the game with 23 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds, was fouled with 21 second left and gave the Cavs a two-point advantage as he missed one of his two free throws that left the Celtics with an opportunity to send the game to overtime or win it with a three-pointer.

However, Boston failed to connect from the three-point marker and was forced to send the Cavaliers in to the foul line in the dying seconds of the contest as the winning team made four free shots to seal the victory.

TagsNBA, Kyrie Irving, Lebron James, cleveland cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Isaiah Thomas