CLEVELAND -- After the 2007 NBA Finals, when Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs swept LeBron James' Cavaliers, the two superstars had a chat.

More like a heart-to-heart, a pick-me-up, you'll be me message delivered from Duncan, who'd already won four NBA titles, to James, who was 22 with his whole career ahead of him.

Now, some nine seasons and five NBA Finals for James later, the Cavs' all-time great is ahead of Duncan on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

James led eight Cavaliers in double-figures with 28 points and moved past Duncan (26,366 points) into 14th place in NBA scoring history while Cleveland crushed the Boston Celtics 120-103 on Saturday night.

James and Duncan have met three times in the Finals -- with James' Miami Heat beating the Spurs in 2013 and Duncan getting the best of Miami the following season.

"He's the greatest power forward of all time, if not one of the greatest of all time, period," said James, who was his usual dominant self with 11 rebounds and eight assists in 36 minutes. "I got so many different stories and so many different things and situations that have been linked to him and we've been linked together, even though he's a few years older than me, we just stayed linked.

"I just think what he's done for this league … You look at a guy like that and it kind of puts you right back in place," James added.

Guards Kyrie Irving contributed 20 points, Iman Shumpert posted a career-high 16 rebounds to go with 12 points off the bench, and J.R. Smith delivered 14 points on four 3-pointers in what was a bit of a payback win for the Cavs (44-17), who have won three straight and lead the East by 2.5 games over Toronto.

On Feb. 5 in Cleveland, Boston trailed by four points with nine seconds left and pulled out a 104-103 triumph.

Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 27 points Saturday night. Former Ohio State standout Jared Sullinger added 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Celtics (38-26) had their five-game winning streak snapped.

"Let's be honest, we were really lucky to win here last time," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said before the game.

There was a second milestone for James against the Celtics -- he scored at least 10 points for the 700th consecutive regular-season game. It's the third-longest streak in NBA history, trailing only Michael Jordan (866) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"If LeBron can't get 10 points in a game, I mean, he might need to retire," Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue joked.

James, though, said "I would never take myself for granted.

"I've been blessed and I've had an opportunity to play with some great guys that have allowed me to help them and they've helped me," James said. "I work on my craft a lot and I can't explain the 700 straight games, but I know what I put into the game and sometimes you have things like that."

The Celtics led 35-22 after one quarter, shooting 60 percent and building what was at one time an 18-point lead. Boston's 35 tied the most points Cleveland has allowed in an opening quarter all season. The Celtics shot 22 of 55 the rest of the game.

The Cavs restored order with a 12-0 run in more than four minutes during the second quarter.

Shumpert snapped a personal 0-for-12 shooting slump with a dunk at 6:24 of the second quarter. His 3-pointer with 1:54 tied the score at 53, and his two free throws with 1:01 remaining gave the Cavs the lead heading into halftime.

The Cavs led by eight points after three and were determined to avoid a repeat of last month's disaster. They pushed their lead to 16 points with 2:58 to go on final great play from James.

With the shot-clock winding down, James drained a fadeaway and was fouled, and cashed in the free throw. The Celtics were also assessed a technical for arguing, and Matthew Dellavedova converted the foul shot.

"I don't think we played with great poise as indicated by our play," Stevens said.

NOTES: Cleveland F LeBron James posted yet another cryptic Tweet Saturday @KingJames: The ultimate level of chemistry is when you know what I'm thinking without saying a word and we execute it. Visa Versa (sic). It's the fourth such Tweet this week, the kinds of Tweets that leave fans wondering if he's calling out teammates or even threatening to leave Cleveland. ... The Celtics, who for now hold the No. 3 seed in the East, started a string of six consecutive games against teams that would be in the playoffs if the postseason began today. ... C F Kelly Olynyk (sprained right shoulder) has not returned to practice since suffering the injury on Feb. 10. Boston coach Brad Stevens said Olynyk would practice any day, but didn't want to set a firm timetable for his return.