The 2017-18 NBA season officially tipped off on Tuesday night as the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Boston Celtics. The game featured plenty of drama and intrigue heading into the matchup, and overall it didn't disappoint. However, it also came with a rough injury in just the first quarter of the game for one of Boston's star players. Here's the latest Celtics and Cavs game recap including top performers, statistics, a standings update, and what's next for these two teams.

BOS vs. CLE recap

The first quarter opened with plenty of excitement and a brief exchange of pleasantries, aka a "fist bump" from LeBron James to former teammate Kyrie Irving.

Then it was down to business. The two teams opened with a back and forth contest. Things took a turn for the worse, though, as Kyrie Irving tossed an alley-oop for a layup to new teammate Gordon Hayward. The NBA All-Star tried to complete the play but ended up colliding with LeBron James and landing badly on the court. Initially, one of the TV commentators suggested he had broken his leg and a close-up camera shot showed Hayward's gruesome injury.

The teams huddled up as trainers checked on the hurt star on the court. After several moments, Hayward's leg was put into a brace and he was stretchered back to the locker room. Later, a diagnosis revealed a fractured tibia and dislocated left ankle.

The Cavs would end the quarter ahead 29-19 and ended up taking a 54-36 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Celtics came out with a vengeance and outscored the Cavs 33-18 in the quarter. It included back-to-back "and one" plays from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Celtics took a two-point lead behind a Marcus Smart layup with four seconds left, but Cavs' newcomer Derrick Rose drained a three-point shot as time expired to put the Cavs back ahead 72-71.

In the fourth quarter, the two teams battled to a frantic finish. Kyrie Irving hit several three-pointers to help his team grab the lead back multiple times. With four minutes to go, Irving set up Brown for a 23-foot three-point shot to give the Celtics a four-point lead. LeBron James would knock down a three of his own on the other end.

The battle would continue until Kevin Love hit a three-pointer with under a minute to go, giving the Cavs a four-point lead. Despite the Celtics hitting a foul shot, they were unable to connect on a late three at the buzzer by Irving. The Cavs took a three-point win as James and Irving hugged at the conclusion.

LeBron James would finish the game an assist shy of a triple-double with 29 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists. Kevin Love added 15 points and 11 boards while Derrick Rose had 14 points and four rebounds. Jae Crowder had 11 points in his Cavs debut. On the opposing side, Kyrie Irving finished with 22 points and 10 assists, while Jaylen Brown led the Celtics in scoring with 25 points.

Hayward played just five minutes due to his early injury and scored two points.

What's up next?

Tonight's loss was two-fold for the Boston Celtics. They not only lost their first game of the season to start at 0-1 but also may have lost Gordon Hayward for the season. The latest reports indicated he was being flown back to Boston for medical treatment. The next game for his team is against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night at 7:30 PM ET.

LeBron James and his new-look Cleveland Cavaliers are off to a 1-0 start for their season and will probably be near the top of the NBA Power rankings at the end of the first week. The Cleveland Cavs will also take on the Milwaukee Bucks on the road for their next game. That one takes place on Friday night at 7 PM ET on ESPN.
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