Celtics top Cavs to take 2-0 lead
James’ 42 points, triple-double not enough to fuel Cleveland
BOSTON — Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and the Boston Celtics withstood a 42-point night by LeBron James to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-94 on Tuesday and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Terry Rozier added 18 points, while Al Horford finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Boston improved to 8-0 this postseason at TD Garden. The Celtics have never blown a 2-0 series lead in the playoffs.
James added 12 assists and 10 rebounds. He scored 21 of Cleveland’s 27 points in the first quarter, tying his playoff career high for points in a period. His 42 points marked his fifth 40-point game of this postseason. James had just 15 points and missed all five of his 3-point attempts in the Cavs’ Game 1 loss.
But he didn’t seem to play with the same force after straining his neck in a first-half collision and the Cavaliers wilted in the second half, with the Celtics outscoring them 59-39.
“It was a tough play. Obviously incidental,” James said after the game. “His shoulder hit me square in the jaw. It didn’t affect my game after that.”
Kevin Love finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland.
As expected, Tristan Thompson started in place of Kyle Korver in the hopes his presence could energize what was a sluggish Cavs offense in Game 1.
Thompson got Cleveland’s first basket of the night and helped to limit Horford’s effectiveness on the inside early on.
Korver added 11 points off the bench for Cleveland. But starters Thompson, JR Smith and George Hill combined for just 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
Tempers flared with 3:49 to play with Boston leading 97-89. Marcus Smart got in Smith’s face after Smith pushed Horford in the back to prevent a layup. Smith shoved Smart and the pair had to be separated.
Smith was assessed a flagrant foul and both received technicals.
Boston’s balanced attack was effective again, with six players reaching double figures. Cleveland had 15 turnovers leading to 13 Boston points. The Celtics turned it over just six times. Celtics 107, Cavaliers 94 CLEVELAND (94) James 16-29 5-10 42, Love 9-18 2-2 22, Thompson 4-6 0-0 8, Hill 1-4 1-2 3, Smith 0-7 0-0 0, Nance Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Green 2-5 1-2 6, Osman 0-0 0-0 0, Calderon 0-0 0-0 0, Hood 1-2 0-0 2, Korver 4-8 1-1 11. Totals 37-80 10-17 94. BOSTON (107) Tatum 5-12 0-0 11, Morris 5-14 1-1 12, Horford 5-13 4-5 15, Rozier 7-16 2-2 18, Brown 9-18 2-4 23, Ojeleye 0-0 2-2 2, Nader 1-1 0-0 2, Yabusele 0-0 0-0 0, Baynes 4-7 0-0 9, Monroe 1-2 2-2 4, Smart 3-9 4-4 11. Totals 40-92 17-20 107. Cleveland 27 28 22 17— 94 Boston 23 25 36 23—107 3-Point Goals—Cleveland 10-31 (James 5-11, Korver 2-5, Love 2-6, Green 1-3, Hill 0-2, Smith 0-4), Boston 10-31 (Brown 3-8, Rozier 2-8, Baynes 1-1, Smart 1-3, Tatum 1-3, Horford 1-4, Morris 1-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds— Cleveland 45 (Love 15), Boston 46 (Horford 10). Assists—Cleveland 18 (James 12), Boston 24 (Smart 9). Total Fouls—Cleveland 21, Boston 18. Technicals—Thompson, Smith, Morris, Smart. A—18,624 (18,624). WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: The Houston Rockets have plenty of things to fix in Game 2 tonight after squandering their home-court advantage in the Western Conference finals.
Tops on their list: limiting turnovers, eliminating open 3s and making things tougher on the Golden State Warriors — particularly Kevin Durant.
“Kevin Durant and (Stephen) Curry, they’re good. So they’re going to make” shots, Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Our head can’t explode that they go one-on-one and make shots … you have to be able to absorb some of their greatness; at the same time, don’t make the mental errors that we did. That would accumulate for 15, 20 points, and that’s the difference in the game.”
It almost sounds like the Rockets will have to play almost perfect beat the Warriors. They wouldn’t go as far as to say that, but James Harden, who scored 41 in Game 1, did say that at this level the margin for error gets razor thin.
“It’s the (conference) finals,” he said. “There’s four teams here for a reason. Obviously these four teams have done great things all year. You can’t make the same mental mistakes like you’re in a regular season.”
DRAFT LOTTERY: Phoenix won the top pick in next month’s draft.
It’s the first time the Suns will have the chance to make the first overall selection. The Suns had the right combination of pingpong balls pop up for them at the draft lottery Tuesday night, a reward of sorts after a season in which Phoenix had the NBA’s worst record at 21-61.
Sacramento will pick No. 2 and Atlanta got the No. 3 pick — both of them moving up to get there. The top three spots were determined by the lottery, and then spots 4-14 fell in line of reverse order of record.
The rest of the slots, in order, went to No. 4 Memphis, No. 5 Dallas, No. 6 Orlando, No. 7 Chicago, No. 8 Cleveland, No. 9 New York, No. 10 Philadelphia, No. 11 Charlotte, No. 12 and No. 13 Los Angeles Clippers, and No. 14 Denver.
The draft is June 21 in Brooklyn.