Knockout victory for hot Cavaliers
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are headed back to a familiar place after sweeping aside another overmatched opponent.
James scored 35 points and Kyrie Irving added 27 as Cleveland swept Toronto, beating the host Raptors 109-102 on Sunday to give James his seventh straight trip to the Eastern Conference finals.
“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 playoff 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.
Channing Frye scored 10 points, and Irving had nine assists for Cleveland. The Cavaliers were 16 for 41 from three-point range.
“When LeBron is shooting the three ball the way he is, at the rate he’s shooting it, they’re difficult,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “It’s gong to take a Herculean effort to beat them.”
The Cavaliers finished off the Raptors before the start of Game 4 between Boston and Washington, which the Wizards won. That tied series won’t end until Friday night at the earliest, and could run until May 15, meaning the Cavaliers will have plenty of time to rest before the conference finals.
Asked to choose between the Celtics and Wizards, James said he did not have a preferred opponent.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I’m excited about us getting an opportunity to represent our franchise in the Eastern Conference finals to go play for the big one.”
Serge Ibaka scored 23 points, and DeMar DeRozan had 22 for Toronto. The Raptors took their first fourthquarter lead of the series but couldn’t avoid their fourth straight loss.
“We needed that, we needed to be tested throughout 48-minute games,” Irving said. “One of the hardest things to do is sweep teams. We understand how important it is to come in and get a win and get rest.”
at Washington 121, Boston 102: The Wizards routed the Celtics in Game 4 thanks to a 26-0 third-quarter run that featured big-time contributions from John Wall, Bradley Beal, Markieff Morris and Otto Porter.
That six-minute stretch busted the game open and Washington tied the secondround series at two games apiece. Wall had seven of his 27 points and three of his 12 assists during the run as the Celtics committed eight turnovers — including backto-back shot-clock violations — and went 0 for 5.
at Houston 125, San Antonio 104: James Harden scored 28 points as the Rockets rebounded from consecutive losses to tie the Western Conference series 2-2.
The Rockets never trailed and used hot threepoint shooting to pull away in the third quarter.
Jonathon Simmons had 17 points for the Spurs, and Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge each added 16.