Kevin Garnett made a turnaround jumper with 1:04 left as the Boston Celtics nearly squandered another huge lead before holding on to beat the Cavaliers 93-90 Tuesday in Cleveland.

The Celtics led by 21 in the final minute of the third quarter, but the Cavaliers cut the deficit to 89-87 on a driving layup by Kyrie Irving with 1:17 left in the game. It was eerily similar to Irving’s driving layup on Sunday to beat the Celtics in the game’s final seconds in Boston, when the Cavs trailed by 11 with 4 1/2 minutes to play.

This time, the Celtics wouldn’t let it slip away as Brandon Bass hit a pair of key jumpers in the final minutes and Garnett put the game away.

Paul Pierce scored 20 points, Garnett had 13 and Jermaine O’Neal had 12 points in his return from a knee injury. Ray Allen had 12 points and eight assists and handled much of the offense in the continued absence of Rajon Rondo.

Anderson Varejao had a season-high 20 points and career-best 20 rebounds to become the first Cavs player to record a 20/20 in nearly seven years. Irving had 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter.