Celtics coach Doc Rivers doesn’t like what he sees, and makes his displeasure known.

Journal / Glenn Osmundson

CLEVELAND — The Boston Celtics apparently like to play with fire. For their sake, they better hope LeBron James doesn’t burn them this time.

The Celtics continued their run of futility in road playoff games last night and lost to James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, 74-69, at Quicken Loans Arena. The win tied the series at 3-3 and means the Celtics will face a second straight Game Seven tomorrow afternoon at TD Banknorth Garden.

James was his usual spectacular self as he led the Cavs with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 25 points and Paul Pierce added 16.

The Celtics led most of the first half but faltered late and trailed, 42-33. The Cavs built leads of as many as 16 points in the third quarter but a Boston rally in the fourth made for an interesting finish.

The Celtics cut the Cavalier lead to 65-60 midway through the fourth quarter but James scored on a killer spin move to the hoop and then hit an off-balance 20-footer that gave his team some needed breathing room. A Wally Szczerbiak 3-pointer gave the Cavs a 72-63 lead with two minutes left but only free throws in the final 30 seconds saved the game for the home team.

The Celtics blew a great opportunity to control the game in the opening 24 minutes. The Celts led for most of the half and were up by six with six minutes left. But they self-destructed down the stretch and trailed by 42-33 at the break.

Boston missed its last 10 shots of the half, racked up too many turnovers (nine in the half) and was outscored 17-2 to close the second quarter. The Celts shot 33 percent in the quarter and 37 percent for the half. Those numbers normally get you into deep trouble, but the Celts played tough defense most of the half, holding the Cavs to 32 percent and limiting LeBron James to 2-for-9 shooting, but the Cavaliers scored in other ways.

The best came off 10 offensive rebounds and then a parade to the foul line as the Celtics committed a boatload of silly fouls (14 in the half to 6 for Cleveland). Those led to 18 trips to the line, and the Cavs knocked down 15. Boston was just 4-for-5 from the line.

The Celtics received a boost late in the first half from reserve guard Eddie House. He came on for the final possession of the quarter and nailed a jumper that tied the game, 18-18. Glen “Big Baby” Davis began the second quarter with a hoop and then House canned a deep 3-pointer. A House-to-Davis pass for a layup gave the Celts a 25-19 lead. Garnett hit six of his nine shots in the opening half and had 13 points at the break and his final field goal gave Boston a 31-25 lead. But that’s when all the cards hit the floor. A Ray Allen reach-in on Wally Szczerbiak began the foul-line procession. Sasha Pavlovic then swished a wide-open 3-pointer to make it 31-30, and that seemed to lift the lid off the Cavs.

After two Paul Pierce free throws, the Cavaliers closed the half with 12 unanswered points. Zydrumas Ilgauskas hurt the Celtics badly with 17- and 20-foot jumpers, as well as a technical free throw after Davis hung out in the lane too long. Davis then picked up his fourth foul of the half, and James made two free throws with nine seconds left. The Celtics inbounded to Pierce, but he made a bad pass that Delonte West picked off, and the ex-Celtic ended the half with a 29-foot prayer at the buzzer that swished through the hoop.

The Cavs certainly realized how fortunate they were to own a nine-point halftime lead despite shooting 32 percent. That number ticked up a bit to start the third quarter as James swished a 3-pointer, made a tough fade-away in the lane and then canned two free throws to give his team a 49-33 lead.

That extended the Cavs’ scoring run to 24-2 as Boston’s shooting skid reached 16 straight misses. Ray Allen ended the nightmare with a rebound basket after his own miss, but West hit a runner to make it 51-35. But just as quickly, the game turned in Boston’s favor. With Pierce canning a 3-pointer to start a run, Garnett adding three tough jumpers, and Pierce hitting another try, the Celtics scored 13 straight points to cut the lead to 51-48.

It was 53-50 with 2:27 left when the Cavs answered. Anderson Varajao scored twice and James hit two free throws to give him 11 points in the quarter and 24 for the game as Cleveland led after three, 59-50. When James canned two jumpers to start the fourth quarter, the Cavs’ lead was back into double figures, 63-50.

kmcnamar@projo.com