If Sunday’s win over the Warriors showed the Celtics at their peak, then their follow-up performance two nights later revealed there is still room to grow in order for this group to finish the job this spring.

The Celtics looked well on their way to another blowout victory on Tuesday night in Cleveland, before it all went spiraling out of control. They blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead. Suddenly, a group that hadn’t faced adversity in over a month found some. But they couldn’t overcome it. The Cavaliers’ scorching hot finish was too much, and the Celtics weren’t good enough in crunch time as they lost, 105-104.

Jayson Tatum scored 26 points, but just four after halftime, to lead the Celtics, whose dominant 11-game winning streak came to a shocking end to a Cavaliers team missing star guard Donovan Mitchell.

Dean Wade scored 23 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, as the Cavaliers caught fire and made eight 3-pointers in the final period to fuel their comeback. Wade’s fifth 3-pointer of the fourth gave the Cavs a 102-99 lead with 2:34 remaining, and the Celtics trailed by two entering the final minute. Then, Kristaps Porzingis did his best to save the winning streak. With 40 seconds remaining, Porzingis intercepted Darius Garland’s alley-oop attempt, then ran the floor and converted a three-point play to give the C’s a one-point lead.

The Celtics nearly made a defensive stop on the next possession, but Garland’s missed layup was followed by Wade for a putback dunk as the Cavs retook the lead.

Joe Mazzulla then opted to not call a timeout. Tatum dribbled the clock down, got a switch on to the smaller Garland and attempted a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer. Garland was initially called for a foul, which would have put Tatum at the line for the winning free throws, but after Cleveland challenged the play, it was overturned, as Tatum was ruled to make contact with Garland with his leg kicking out.

A jump ball, with 0.7 seconds, then ensued at midcourt. The Celtics won the tip but time ran out.