Cavaliers demolish Raptors
LOS ANGELES —LeBron James led the way as the Cleveland Cavaliers wrapped up a series sweep with a ruthless demolition of the Toronto Raptors to book their place in the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Sixers stay alive vs Celts
James, the buzzerbeating hero of Cleveland's epic victory in Game 3, scored 29 points as Toronto's bid to avoid the ignominy of a 4-0 series loss ended in a 128-93 pounding.
Toronto had entered the playoffs as the number one seed from the Eastern Conference, and were desperate to avoid a third straight series defeat to James and the Cavs after losses in 2016 and 2017.
But their fragility was underscored by a rampant Cleveland, with James leading a blowout win that ensures the Cavs will be well rested for the Eastern Conference finals, where they will play either Boston or Philadelphia.
"It was a great series for us ," James said afterwards ." We had a lot of challenges, considering the dominance (Toronto) had in the regular season. But we had a great gameplan and we executed it.
"We want to continue to improve. I think we've done that from the seven-game series against Indiana to these four games."
James was once more the tormentor in chief for Toronto, contributing eight rebounds and 11 assists in addition to his 29 points.
Four other Cavaliers starters cracked double digits, with Kevin Love scoring 23 points and Kyle Korver 16 points.
J.R. Smith added 15 points while George Hill added 12.
In the other playoff game, T.J McConnell and Dario Saric combined to give the Philadelphia 76ers a lifeline with their 103-92 win over the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics could have clinched a 4-0 sweep but instead the Sixers' win ensured there will be a game game five in Boston on Wednesday.
McConnell's introduction into the starting line-up proved crucial for the Sixers, with the point guard scoring a career-high 19 points.
Croatian power forward Saric added 25 points while Ben Simmons finished with 19 points and Joel Embiid 15.
Sixers coach Brett Brown said McConnell had been brought in for his positive mindset as the Sixers attempted to stave off a clean sweep.
"We wanted to remind the team of how good a season they have had to this point," Brown said afterwards.
"There's no better player to help catapult that kind of mindset than T.J. He's like a throwback kind of player. A tremendous teammate, an incredible competitor."
McConnell meanwhile saluted the Sixers' mental resilience.
"We showed a lot of maturity today and came up with a win," said McConnell, adding that the team was unfazed by the statistical improbability of overturning a 0-3 series deficit.
"We had nothing to lose. Our coach told us that the team that is down 0-3 is 0-129. So we're just trying our hardest to be that one team that comes back," he said.