Boston needs one to clinch
Tatum, Horford help Boston to within one victory of clinching conference finals.
Celtics take 3-2 series lead with 96-83 victory over Cleveland.
BOSTON 96 CLEVELAND 83
BOSTON — Rookie Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, and Al Horford had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Boston Celtics defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-83 on Wednesday night and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.
The Celtics, who are 10-0 at home this postseason, moved within one victory of their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010.
Game 6 is in Cleveland on Friday night, with the decisive seventh game back in Boston on Sunday if necessary. The home team has won every game in the series.
“To do what we want to do we still have to beat this team one more time,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “And it’s hard to do in the NBA.”
LeBron James had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Kevin Love scored 14 points for the Cavaliers, who are trying to reach the Finals for the fourth consecutive season. James has played to the end in seven consecutive seasons.
“Our focus, LeBron’s focus is to win,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “That’s the only thing that matters.”
The Celtics opened a double-digit lead in the first quarter and nursed it the rest of the way, holding on through a four-minute scoring drought in which Cleveland scored nine points in a row to cut the deficit to 83-71. But Horford scored on an alley-oop to end the skid and that was as close as the Cavaliers would get.
James seemed to tire in the fourth quarter, scoring only two points on four shots. He finished one for six in three-point shots; the Cavaliers made only nine of 34 three-point shots and shot only 42% overall.
“He did look a little tired to me,” Lue said. “No concerns. You’ve got to be ready to play now.”
Jaylen Brown scored 17 points, and Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart each scored 13. Tatum had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Things got a little heated at times.
After a hard defensive play by Morris sent Larry Nance Jr. into the first row of seats, Morris appeared to wander over and say something, prompting Nance to jump up and body-check Morris, who responded with a one-handed shove to the face.
When the dust settled, the referees called technical fouls on Terry Rozier, Nance and Morris.