BOSTON - As reporters and locker room attendants stepped over balls of used duct tape and sweaty jerseys, Delonte West looked at a stat sheet late last night and shook his head.

"Ray Allen took four shots. He didn't score?" West said to teammate Dwayne Jones. "(Paul) Pierce had two baskets? Damn."

The frustration that filled West's words was etched in the eyes of all the Cavalier players. The Cavs came up with an almost flawless defensive effort, led with 1:30 to play but still let Game One of the Eastern Conference semifinals slip through their hands, 76-72. Game Two of the series is set for tomorrow night.

The game boiled down to the final minute and a showcase of two of the NBA's biggest stars. With the score knotted at 72-72, Kevin Garnett caught the ball in the post, faked to his right and moved to his left for a jump hook over Joe Smith that fell through the hoop with 21 seconds left.

Coming out of a timeout, the Cavs wisely put the ball in the hands of their star, LeBron James. He took the ball strong down the lane but with James Posey on his shoulder and Garnett challenging at the rim, James' layup fell off into Posey's hands. Two Posey free throws iced the game.

"It's always tough to lose in the playoffs," said West, who was a Celtic just one year ago. "It would've been nice to get this one and get that monkey off our back in their building. It's a long series. They got this one, but we're very confident in what we're trying to accomplish."

Garnett's late score and stop capped off a great night for the big man. He finished with a game-high 28 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the Cavs with 22 points and Wally Szczerbiak added 13.

"I was just being aggressive," Garnett said of the go-ahead hoop. "I noticed that they were trapping and I saw a lane and just was aggressive. I took my time, got my head up, just a good shot. That's it."

Thanks to aggressive defense, sloppy ballhandling and errant shooting, the game was either a defender's delight or a purist's nightmare. The Celtics threw the ball away 21 times. Cleveland shot 30 percent from the field.

Consider these stats for some of the NBA's biggest stars: James made just two of his 18 shots. He also threw the ball away 10 times. Pierce went 2 for 14 for four points. Ray Allen was worse. The jump-shooter supreme missed all four shots he took and was scoreless.

"I don't know if you combine our numbers, 4 for 32 between me and Paul Pierce, with 16 turnovers, zero for nine from the three-point line. I could keep going I guess," said James. "Not all-star numbers there."

Pierce chuckled when he looked at the stat sheet as well. "I was looking at it like I can't play any worse than this and we got a win," he said. "I look at it as it's all uphill. Ray can't play as bad as he did, or Lebron. I think we're setting ourselves up for an exciting series."

With Pierce and Allen no-shows, Garnett's offensive help came from Rajon Rondo (15 points) in the first half and Sam Cassell (13) and Posey (8) late. Both hit huge 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter and Cassell nailed two critical free throws with 52 seconds left to put Boston up, 72-70.

Ilgauskas, a massive 7-foot-2 center who shoots very well, then tipped in a James miss to tie the score at 72-72. Boston responded by going inside to Garnett and the big man delivered with his biggest hoop as a Celtic.

"It was a beautiful win. I'll put it that way," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "A lot of things didn't go our way and a lot of things didn't go their way either and we still found a way to win the game."

Players from both teams expect more of the same in this series. Boston loaded up its defense to stop James and obviously succeeded in smashing fashion. The Cavs tried to limit the Celtics' three stars and took two of them out completely. Yet when the clock ticked inside one minute, the game was there for either team to take. This time it was Boston, and Garnett, that did the taking.

"It's going to be a series where a lot of games come down to the very end," said Cleveland's Smith. "They got the ball where they wanted to and KG made a heck of a move. LeBron got right to the rim and the ball didn't drop. That's two playmakers trying to make the big play. We're going to see more of that."