CLEVELAND — Kyrie Irving gritted his teeth, tightened up his left sneaker and hopped to his feet.

The pain didn’t stop him. The Celtics didn’t either.

Irving took over in the second half and finished with 42 points, LeBron James added 34 and the Cavaliers moved within one win of a third date in the Finals with the Warriors by rallying to beat the Celtics 112-99 on Tuesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

With James in foul trouble, Irving stayed on the floor despite rolling his left ankle in the third quarter, when he scored 19 points in less than five minutes.

“He put us on his back and carried us,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said.

The defending NBA champions, who shot 71 percent in the second half to open a 3-1 lead in the series, can wrap up their third straight conference title with a win in Game 5 on Thursday night in Boston.

Fighting to keep their season alive, the Celtics aren’t giving an inch despite playing without All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, who may need surgery on a hip injury. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, wouldn’t be on the cusp of the Finals without Irving.

In jeopardy of dropping their second game in a row after James followed an 11-point Game 3 by picking up four first-half fouls, the Cavaliers turned to Irving, who put on a breathtaking one-man show in the third quarter.

Freezing defenders with his dribble and driving to the basket whenever he wanted, Irving made six layups, two 3-pointers and a free throw in a dizzying span of 4 minutes, 48 seconds. He capped his blistering 19-point outburst with a 3 in the final second of the quarter.

“I just wanted to be aggressive, lead my guys and leave it all out there on the floor,” Irving said.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens was disappointed with his team’s defense on Irving.

“When he gets going like that, he’s tough to stop,” Stevens said. “The ones we got to look at are the ones he got at the rim.” AP