NBA PLAYOFFS : Cavaliers Get Long-Distance Shot in Arm

Steve Kerr can’t remember ever making a shot from beyond the half-court line before. Not in the NBA, not in college, not in high school.

The way he saw it, he was long overdue.

“I’m probably shooting about 1% in my career on heaves like that,” Kerr said Saturday after his shot at the third-quarter buzzer helped the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Boston Celtics, 101-76, in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Kerr’s shot gave the Cavaliers their biggest lead to that point, 76-61, and Boston never got closer than eight during the fourth quarter. The final margin was the biggest of the game.

“It seems like we’ve been on the losing end of those shots a lot,” Kerr said. “Sam Bowie hit one for New Jersey the other night against us. It can be demoralizing. You think, ‘Gee, what else can go wrong?’ It feels good to make one. I was stunned.”

Brad Daugherty dominated the inside for Cleveland with 26 points and 17 rebounds, and Larry Nance scored 24.

The loss ended Boston’s 11-game winning streak, which began with the final eight games of the regular season and continued with a sweep of Indiana during the first round. Larry Bird, bothered by his sore back, has not played since the streak began and was not with the team.

Boston’s Robert Parish, limping noticeably, left the game late in the third quarter and did not return. He scored only four points.

“I don’t want to talk about injuries,” Parish said. “This is a big slice of humble pie for us. It feels bad because we played so poorly.”

Kevin Gamble scored 22 points and Reggie Lewis 18 for the Celtics, who handed the Cavaliers two of their six home losses during the regular season. On Saturday, however, Boston’s output was its lowest of the season.

“It will be interesting to see how the guys bounce back,” Celtic Coach Chris Ford said. “It’s the first time we’ve been slapped pretty hard in a long time. We gave in to their defensive intensity. You’ve got to take advantage of their double teams and burn them, or at least play through it, and we didn’t.”

Cleveland missed its first nine shots and trailed by as many as nine in the first quarter before Mark Price made the last two shots of the quarter, giving the Cavaliers a 26-24 lead.

They extended it to 47-42 at halftime, and Daugherty took control during the third quarter, scoring 13 points. The Cavaliers double-teamed Kevin McHale and stole the ball from him in the closing seconds of the quarter, and Kerr launched the three-pointer from slightly beyond half court that made the score 76-61.

“It’s a confidence-builder,” Coach Lenny Wilkens said. “It gets the team excited and brings the fans into it. Those are always great.”

Boston closed to 78-70 midway through the fourth quarter before Cleveland sealed the victory with a 14-2 run highlighted by Nance’s four long jumpers.