"They had it, and they knew it.

"I was in the locker room getting my ankle taped, and when I went back out you could see that we thought we had it," said Avery Bradley, who made it back from a twisted right ankle to play the final 3:40 of last night's 88-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Garden. "The intensity was there on the bench — everything. We thought we were ready to win it."

Instead, repeated defensive breakdowns, turnovers and a crucial missed layup by the otherwise impeccable Ray Allen led to a 12-0 Cavaliers run over the last 4:13.

Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving, already known as an uncommonly efficient shot maker, scored six points in the Cleveland run -— including a spin past Bradley and Brandon Bass down the lane for the winning basket with 2.6 seconds left."