Cleveland's Drew Gooden, right, pokes the ball from New Jersey's Vince Carter. Cleveland held on for an 81-77 victory Sunday in Cleveland.

Cleveland ? LeBron James’ stuffy nose was nothing compared to the congestion New Jersey dealt with.

With their superstar slowed by a nasty head cold, the Cleveland Cavaliers turned up their defense to beat the Nets, 81-77, on Sunday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Cavaliers clogged up passing lanes, pushed bodies around under the basket and generally made life miserable for the playoff-tested Nets, who rarely got off a shot without a hand in their faces.

“Our defense was the thing that carried us,” coach Mike Brown said.

James, who came down with a cold while the Cavs waited around for a second-round opponent, sniffled his way to 21 points, and Larry Hughes added 17 as Cleveland remained unbeaten so far this postseason.

The Cavs came in well rested after their four-game sweep of Washington in the first round, and they needed every ounce of energy to hold off the Nets, who pulled within 79-77 on Vince Carter’s two free throws with 19.5 seconds left.

But James scored on a tough drive to put Cleveland up by four, and on New Jersey’s final possession, the Cavaliers made a defensive stand that must have given Brown chills from head to toe.

As the Nets quickly worked the ball on the perimeter looking for a shot, they encountered a Cavalier at every turn. Up top, nothing there. Down low, nope. Inside, outside, it didn’t matter.

And when New Jersey’s Bostjan Nachbar finally found enough room to get off a shot with 7.9 seconds left, James blocked it.

“We understand that if we get stops, we’re a tough team to play,” Hughes said.

It was the type of fundamental, team-oriented defense Brown learned as an assistant under San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich and the kind he has repeatedly preached to his team that it must play in order to win an NBA championship.

“We closed the game like we should,” Cavs guard Sasha Pavlovic said. “We played defense as a team.”

Cleveland held New Jersey to 37 percent shooting and forced Carter into taking awkward, off-balance shots. The Cavs also dominated inside, outrebounding the smaller Nets 51-37 and getting 20 offensive boards.

Pavlovic scored a playoff career-high 15 points and Drew Gooden 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs, who will host Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Carter had 23 points on 7-of-23 shooting to lead New Jersey, but Jason Kidd, who averaged a triple-double in the Nets’ opening-round win over Toronto, had just seven points and went only 2-of-11.

During a crucial four-minute stretch of the fourth, the Nets went 1-for-6 with a turnover, helping the Cavs open a six-point lead. Carter missed all five field-goal tries in the fourth quarter.

“We missed some shots we thought we’d make,” said Kidd, who despite the shooting woes just missed a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine assists. “If we have those chances in Game 2, hopefully it’ll bounce our way.”

Richard Jefferson, the third wheel in New Jersey’s offensive machine, added 16 points.

“There were some point-blank shots I should have made,” Carter said. “If my team’s going to trust me and put the ball in my hands, I’ve got to make them.”

New Jersey relied too much on three-pointers and went just 5-of-20 from long range, mostly a result of the Cavs forcing them out of the lane. New Jersey’s point total was its lowest in 22 playoff games.

“It’s one game,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “You don’t overreact.”