Raptors declawed
James leads Cleveland to 2nd straight sweep
C leveland sweep To oronto in second round of play-offs
TORONTO: The NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers powered into the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday, downing the Toronto Raptors 109-102 to complete a four-game sweep of their play-off series.
LeBron James scored 35 points with nine rebounds and six assists as the Cavaliers subdued the desperate Raptors to remain unbeaten in eight games in these play-offs.
“It’s rewarding when you can advance,” James said. “It’s not just given to you, you have to go out and earn it. Once again I’m part of a team that’s been able to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s going to be my ninth time in 14 years. I’ll take those numbers.”
Kyle Korver scored 18 points to help the Cavaliers become the first team to win eight straight play-off games the year following a title, and the first team to win eight straight in consecutive postseasons.
“The fact that we play our best basketball in the postseason lets us know that we’re up for the challenge,” said James, who had nine rebounds and six assists.
They’re the first team to win eight games in a row over consecutive post-season runs.
“It’s never easy especially in a close-out game,” said Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, who scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and added nine assists. “There’s desperation at their end and desperation at our end.”
In the Eastern Conference finals, the Cavaliers will play either the Boston Celtics or Washington Wizards for a place in the NBA Finals.
John Wall tallied 27 points and 12 assists as the Wizards defeated the Celtics 121-102 Sunday to level their series at 2-2.
Kyle Korver scored 18 off the bench as his 16 first-half points helped the Cavaliers erase an 11-point first-quarter deficit and take a 61-49 half-time lead.
With their backs against the wall, down 16 points early in the third quarter, the Raptors responded, taking a 93-92 lead with 6:38 minutes to play.
“The closeout game is always tough,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “They came out and competed, took an early lead, went up 11.
“It was a tough game for us. We knew it would be, coming into a hostile environment.”
But it marked the second straight year that the Cavs eliminated the Raptors from play-offs on their home floor. They beat them in six games in the Eastern Conference finals last season.
WIZARDS, CELTICS LEVEL
Bradley Beal scored 29 points and the Washington Wizards used a 26-0 thirdquarter run to beat the Boston Celtics 121102 to tie the series at two games apiece.
John Wall added 27 points and 12 assists for Washington. Wall had seven points, three assists and two steals during the third-quarter spree that featured eight Celtics turnovers. Otto Porter scored four of his 18 points in the dominant six-minute span that also included five points from Markieff Morris.
Trailing 53-48 before the run, Washington led 74-53 on Porter’s layup with 5 minutes left in the third. The Wizards led by as many as 26 and outscored the Celtics (237-191) in the two games in DC.
Isaiah Thomas had 19 points for Boston, but scored 17 in the first 15 minutes.
Game Five is Thursday morning (Thai time) in Boston.
ROCKETS REBOUND
James Harden scored 28 points and Eric Gordon 22 as Houston rebounded from consecutive losses to beat San Antonio 125-104 and tie their series 2-2.
The Rockets never trailed and used hot three-point shooting to pull away in the third quarter.
Game Five is in San Antonio tomorrow morning (Thai time).
Jonathon Simmons had 17 points for the Spurs, and Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 apiece.