■ CLEVELAND ROUTS BOSTON CELTICS BY 44 POINTS, TAKES 2-0 LEAD IN EAST FINALS
Cavaliers rout ‘top seed’ Boston by 44 points—yes, 44 points—to take 2- 0 lead in one-sided Eastern Conference finals.
LeBron James scored 21 points to propel the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 130-86 victory over “top seed” Boston Celtics last Friday.
LeBron James scored 30 points, Kevin Love had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers steamrolled the Boston Celtics 130-86 on Friday to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals and tie an NBA record with their 13th straight playoff victory.
Cleveland led by 14 points after one quarter, by a record 41 at the half and by 46 after three.
Kyrie Irving scored 23 points for the Cavaliers, who return home with a chance to finish off the Celtics in Cleveland. It would be the third straight sweep this postseason for the defending NBA champions, who also won the last three games of last year’s finals.
The Celtics played the second half without Isaiah Thomas due to a strained right hip.
With both teams going to their benches early in the fourth quarter, the only suspense was whether the Celtics could avoid the worst playoff loss in franchise history. The Orlando Magic beat them by 47 points in the first round of the 1995 postseason.
Still, it was the Celtics’ worst home playoff loss ever.
Thomas finished with just a pair of free throws, missing all six shots from the field; he also had six assists. Rookie Jaylen Brown scored 19 for Boston, Avery Bradley had 13 and Al Horford had 11 points and five rebounds.
The game tipped off about 15 minutes after the three finalists for NBA MVP were announced, and James wasn’t among them. It’s the first time since 2008 that he won’t finish in the top three. But James, who’s won the award four times, still has a chance for a fourth NBA title — and sec
ond in a row. /
As well as we played tonight, we’ve got a couple of things we can do better. There’s no complacency for us now. LEBRON JAMES “The King”