It wasn’t going to happen again for the Celtics in Cleveland.

Boston took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter Tuesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, just as it did in the same building back on Dec. 1. The Cavaliers rallied to win that first matchup. In the rematch, the Celtics held strong, winning 112-105 in a matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings.

Derrick White scored 14 fourth-quarter points, including four 3-pointers, to stave off East-leading Cleveland, atoning for a pair of missed free throws that helped spark a late Cavs surge.

With the win, the Celtics improved to 36-15 and 8-3 over their last 11 games. Their current four-game winning streak is their longest since November.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 22 points, seven assists, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points, seven boards, two steals and two blocks, with nearly all of the latter’s offensive production coming after halftime. Al Horford, who spent the entire second half of Sunday’s comeback win over Philadelphia on the bench, recorded just his second double-double of the season (13 points, 10 rebounds) as part of a standout game for Boston’s reserves.

Horford, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet all finished as a plus-10 or better; the best mark by a Celtics starter was Tatum’s plus-1.

Defensively, the Celtics totaled six blocks and 10 steals and held the Cavs to 39.6% shooting, tied for their lowest mark of the season. Cleveland shot 28.3% from 3-point range, well below it’s NBA-leading season average of 39.6%.

The Cavs and Celtics own the NBA’s best and third-best offensive ratings this season, respectively, but the first quarter was a defensive struggle, with the teams combining for just 13 points over the first 7 1/2 minutes. Jaylen Brown, who missed the last Celtics-Cavs matchup, was the only consistent scoring threat during that sluggish start. He scored the Celtics’ first 12 points — four makes at the rim and one jumper in the paint — and, at one point late in the quarter, had as many made field goals as every other player on both sides.

Around the four-minute mark of the first, the spigot opened. Donovan Mitchell (31 points found some offensive success for Cleveland — including a highlight-reel dunk on Porzingis, who’d blocked two shots earlier in the game — but most of the momentum belonged to Boston.

The Celtics closed the opening quarter on a 13-4 run, all with impact reserves Horford, Pritchard and Kornet on the floor. Pritchard hit a 3-pointer to spark Boston’s run, and Horford scored his team’s final eight points of the quarter, the last of which came on a corner three off a beautiful cross-court pass from a double-teamed Tatum.

Boston led 11-6 when Pritchard and Kornet checked in with 4:09 to play in the first. By the time Brown, Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday returned for their second shift at the 7:29 mark of the second, the Celtics’ advantage had ballooned to 43-25. The Celtics got two threes from Tatum and one from Hauser during that blitz, with Hauser’s coming off a nifty on-the-move pass from a rolling Kornet.

Kornet, a difference-maker off the bench of late, had three assists and three of Boston’s 13 offensive rebounds in the first half.

The Cavs shot just 30% from the field and 16.7% from three before halftime, but they rallied late in the second quarter, cutting their deficit from 20 points to eight. Brown’s buzzer-beating turnaround jumper made it 54-44 at the half.

The Celtics held an 11-point lead five minutes into the third quarter when Brown elevated for an unsuccessful dunk attempt on Cleveland’s Georges Niang. Niang initially was called for a foul on the play, but after a Cavs challenge, the foul was transferred to Brown — the fourth of the game for the Celtics star. Brown’s reaction to the reversal also earned him a technical foul while sitting on the bench. (He later sat out the final 5:30 of the game after picking up his fifth personal.)

Cleveland sank the technical free throw and scored on its next two possessions to make it a six-point game. But Boston punched back. Pritchard hit a three moments later, and Tatum and Porzingis found and exploited a series of mismatches as the Celtics rebuilt a 15-point cushion.

Porzingis was one of the NBA’s top first-quarter scorers in January, but he scored all but four of his points in the second half Tuesday, including 11 in the third quarter.

White hit two threes early in the fourth, then two more on back-to-back possessions after a Mitchell-led run cut Boston’s lead to four. Over his last four games, White is averaging 19.6 points and shooting 46.8% from three (22-for-47).

Next up for the Celtics is a home matchup against the new-look Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night — and, before that, the NBA trade deadline, which is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.

Don’t expect Boston to make any deals in the same stratosphere as the stunner that sent Luka Doncic from Dallas to Los Angeles late Saturday night. But president of basketball operations Brad Stevens could look to swing a trade or two to shore up the back half of the Celtics’ roster ahead of their playoff push. Jaden Springer’s $4 million salary makes him the most logical trade candidate for a Boston team that could use more wing depth and bench scoring.

The Celtics have acquired players ahead of the last four trade deadlines, most recently bringing in Springer and Xavier Tillman last February.

Off the rim

Despite a report to the contrary, Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told reporters Super Bowl LIX Opening Night he’s not interested in buying his hometown Celtics. “I would never say never, but I’m not looking to own another sports franchise,” said Lurie, who was born and raised in the Boston area. “The Celtics, again, are exceptional. They’re so well run. They’re so talented. They’re my childhood team. However, I do not expect that to happen.” … Anthony Davis, shipped to Dallas over the weekend in the Doncic blockbuster, could make his Mavericks debut in Thursday night’s NBA Finals rematch at TD Garden. “If not Thursday, then more than likely Saturday at home,” Davis, who’s dealing with an abdominal injury, told reporters Tuesday, via ESPN. … The Mavs swung another trade Tuesday, acquiring noted Celtics killer Caleb Martin from Philadelphia. Martin averaged nearly 20 points per game against Boston in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals and hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in the 76ers’ Christmas Day win on Causeway Street.