YOU CAN NOW STOP DOUBTING THE CAVS
Lebron James sends Toronto Raptors into summer vacation after a four-game sweep for Cleveland to be the first team to advance to the conference finals Philadelphia lives to see another day after winning Game 4 over the Boston Celtics
Their doubters are dropping off as quickly as the competition.
Only one team has advanced to the conference finals in these NBA playoffs, and it’s the same squad that looked vulnerable during a chaotic regular season, beatable in the postseason and was one loss from a possible franchise collapse.
The ending’s been postponed. The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t nearly finished.
On Monday night, the Cavs completed their second straight four-game sweep of the Toronto Raptors, the East’s top team and the one that was supposedly built to dethrone them, with a 128-93 win in Game 4 that has perhaps changed Cleveland’s outlook.
LeBron James, whose future hangs over this city like a looming thunderstorm, scored 29 points with 11 assists and eight rebounds on 12 of 19 shooting — an ordinary performance by his standards — as the Cavs won their 10th straight over the Raptors with one of their most complete games in months.
After all the injuries, the failed Isaiah Thomas experiment, the roster overhaul at the trading deadline and other distractions, the Cavs, who can get some rest while waiting for the Philadelphia-Boston winner, are peaking at the right time.
Their path to the East finals wasn’t straight. But they arrived.
“We’ve had four or five seasons wrapped in one, we know what the narrative has been about our team,” said James, who averaged 34 points, 8.3 rebounds and 11.3 assists in the series. “But I can only speak in the moment. To be able to put ourselves in position where we can represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals, that’s all you can ask for. So we’re excited about being part of the Eastern Conference finals once again and having the opportunity to compete for a championship. “That is what our goal is.” 76ERS 103, CELTICS 92 In Philadelphia, T.J. McCon- nell turned a surprise start into the save of the season and Dario Saric scored 25 points to help the 76ers stave off elimination in a win over the Celtics in Game 4.
The Sixers still face daunting odds headed into Game 5 and trailing 3-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals: No NBA team has ever won a series down 3-0.
McConnell had a career-high 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists in only his second start of the season and meshed well in the backcourt with Ben Simmons. The crowd chanted “TJ! TJ!” each time he touched the ball in the fourth and proved why he has been so valuable even as bigger stars have sliced his playing time.
He was just what coach Brett Brown needed in a must-win game. /
I believe in my teammates so as everyone was burying my teammates alive throughout that firstround series, I just continued to tell them, ‘Listen, we can’t win without each and every one doing their jobs and being as great as they can be.” LEBRON JAMES