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BOSTON (AP) -- Setting an NBA record for 3-point futility won't stop Antoine Walker from taking the long-distance shot. He just didn't need it Wednesday night until the end.

The Boston Celtics held on for a 104-98 victory over Cleveland as Walker hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left after the Cavaliers cut a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to three with 1:02 remaining.

Just two nights after missing all 11 of his 3-point attempts in a 99-83 loss at Philadelphia, the worst performance in league history, Walker chose to go inside against smaller opponents and made only 2-of-3 from 3-point range.

"I'll go 0-for-50, I'm going to still put it up. It don't really matter," he said, "but if you start a point guard on me, I've got to take advantage of that."

Walker missed his first triple-double of the season by one assist, finishing with 33 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Paul Pierce, the NBA's second leading scorer, had 25 points as Boston improved to 15-8 with its 10th win in 12 games.

Andre Miller, who led Cleveland with 36 points, had 12 in the fourth quarter, including a layup that made it 99-96 with 1:02 to go.

"I was just trying to get to the basket, draw some fouls," Miller said. "We were able to make a run, which gave us a slight chance at the end of the game."

The Celtics helped them.

"We played in the fourth quarter like a team that was hesitant," Pierce said, "the reverse of how we played in the first and second quarter where we were being aggressive."

But Walker saved the Celtics just two nights after going 6-for-23 with 15 points against the 76ers.

"That last 3 he hit from the corner really broke their backs," Boston coach Jim O'Brien said.

Walker made 12 of 18 shots and Boston shot a season-high 53 percent after entering the game with the NBA's worst field-goal percentage, 41.3 percent.

"They were small and that's the reason we had such a high field goal percentage," O'Brien said.

The Celtics led comfortably most of the way until a 20-6 fourth-quarter run, ending with Jumaine Jones' 3-pointer, cut the lead from 85-66 to 91-86. Pierce scored Boston's next six points, making it 97-88, but Cleveland had one last comeback.

Walker made sure that also fell short.

"We just spotted them too many points," Cleveland coach John Lucas said. "They have great perimeter people and we don't. That presents a tough matchup for us."

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 for Cleveland and former Celtic Bryant Stith had all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.

Boston built a 54-32 lead before Miller hit a 3-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer, cutting the halftime lead to 54-35. The Cavaliers then scored the first seven points of the third quarter, making it 54-42.

But a 14-5 run in which Walker had six points opened the lead to 68-47. It ended when Walker, standing about 15 feet from the basket to his left, made a behind-the-back bounce pass to Joe Johnson cutting into the lane for a layup.

The lead remained in double figures until Stith's 3-pointer made it 89-80 with 6:15 remaining. He then converted a 3-point play, Eric Williams made a layup for Boston and Jones ended the run with his 3-pointer.

Game notes
The Cavaliers made 22 of 23 free throws. ... The Celtics won their seventh straight game against the Cavaliers in Boston. ... Miller had 12 points in the third quarter. ... The Cavaliers scored just 13 points in the first quarter when they made 6 of 21 shots. ... Walker entered the game with a 37.3 field goal percentage but has made 23-of-33 shots in the two games in which Ronnie Nunn, Tony Brothers and Nolan Fine officiated. The other game was on Nov. 4 when he went 11-for-15 in a 104-95 win over Washington.