LeBron carries Cavs back to finals
King James plays all 48 minutes in Game 7 win over Celtics
LeBron James booked his eighth straight NBA Finals appearance, delivering another epic Game 7 performance on the road as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to beat the Boston Celtics 87-79 on Sunday.
The 33-year-old James played all 48 minutes and finished with 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists for the Cavs who are in the league championship for the fourth consecutive year.
Cleveland became the first team to win on the road in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference championship series and the first to beat the Celtics at the TD Garden in the postseason.
“Win, loss or draw, at end of my career you are never going to get someone to say I didn’t leave it out on floor,” the four-time league MVP James said.
The Cavaliers will take on either the reigning champions Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets in the championship series. The Warriors dominated the Rockets 115-86 on Saturday to force a decisive Game 7.
James led the Cavaliers in the first half with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but they trailed for much of the half in front of a crowd of 18,600 at the Boston Garden.
It wasn’t until the second half that his supporting cast came to life and the Cavaliers were able to wrestle control back from the Celtics in the low-scoring contest.
James said he knew ahead of time he was going to have to play 48 minutes. He played 48 minutes for the first time in a playoff game since 2006 as a 21-year-old against the Detroit Pistons.
Jeff Green finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, J.R. Smith tallied 12 points and Tristan Thompson scored 10 for Cleveland.
Jayson Tatum paced the Celtic attack with 24 points as Boston suffered their only loss in 11 playoff home games. Al Horford finished with 17 points and Jaylen Brown had 13.
The possibility existed that a loss on Sunday would have been James’ last game with the Cavaliers. He can opt out of his $35.6 million contract at the end of the season and become a free agent.
James has said he plans to retire a Cavalier but this is his second stint in Cleveland after he left once before for Miami in 2010. The Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks are believed to be ready to pounce if he becomes available.