And the Celtics are correct. A frigid Friday night in January isn't where seasons are decided.

But they wanted this one.

Against the Cavaliers, the team that has nudged them out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference in the last week, the Celts sought redemption from their recent woes. But as has been the case in now seven of their last nine games, they were forced to dine on defeat.

LeBron James dropped in 38 points and the Cleveland fans chanted ``overrated'' at the Celtics as they fell, 98-83.

Including last season's playoffs, it was the Celtics' ninth straight loss here - which sort of fits the trend in this place. The Cavaliers are now 19-0 at home. (Hmmm . . . remember when 19 was a cool number for the Celts?)

Celts coach Doc Rivers was well aware of the reason for all this Cleveland cooking - a guy named James.

``I think when he was drafted it made it a tougher place to play,'' Rivers said. ``I'm pretty sure of that, too.''

The Celtics had their best chance to rock Cleveland in the third quarter, but after closing to within three points, they forgot the words to their song.

The C's were down by 14 with a minute to go in the second quarter and by nine at the half. Kevin Garnett then opened the third with a jumper, and Rajon Rondo went to the line on the next three possessions. He hit three of the six shots to make it 49-45.

LeBron James drove for a three-point play at 9:23, ending a scoreless Cleveland run of 3:50. But Kendrick Perkins scored inside (off a Rondo feed) and then hit Garnett for a layup to slice the margin to 52-49.

It was a five-point game a few moments later when the Celtics failed on five straight opportunities to make it tighter.

By the end of the period, the Cavs were back ahead by a dozen. Paul Pierce took advantage of James' absence (and old friend Wally Szczerbiak's presence) to score two quick hoops, but by then, James was tugging at his warmups and heading for the scorer's table to check back in.

James returned with 9:24 left and his team ahead 74-66. The Cavaliers proceeded to go on a 17-5 run to put the Celtics into their misery.

With six minutes left, the Celts tried a different strategy - fouling Ben Wallace, or Belt-a-Ben, if you will. Actually, Eddie House simply wrapped him up, but Wallace, a .441 shooter at the line coming in, made 5-of-10 freebies.

The C's hit 11 of their first 21 shots for 23 points in the opening quarter, but slowing the Cavaliers was another matter.

Cleveland shot 72.2 percent from the floor in the frame and put 33 points up against a defense that continued to spring leaks.

James had nine points and four assists in the period but missed 4-of-7 shots. The only other Cav to miss was Mo Williams (2-for-3).

Leon Powe scored inside three times in the first four minutes of the quarter to cut the Cleveland lead in half, but James hit a pair of 3-pointers and Daniel Gibson stepped back into the right corner to make another as the Cavs' lead grew to 14.

Pierce hit a 3-pointer and Perkins scored inside again to send the C's into halftime with a 49-40 deficit.

- sbulpett@bostonherald.com