Cavs hold on, take 2-0 lead over Pacers
Kyrie Irving scored 37 points, Kevin Love added 27 and the Cleveland Cavaliers avoided another fourth-quarter collapse in Game 2, beating the Indiana Pacers 117-111 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
After squeaking out the opener by a point, LeBron James and Co. showed more intensity on defense, more swagger in general and won their 10th straight first-round game over the past three seasons.
However, they nearly blew an 18-point lead in the fourth as the Pacers got within four before Cleveland closed it out at the line.
James added 10 rebounds and seven assists, but had eight of Cleveland’s 19 turnovers.
Paul George scored 32 and Jeff Teague 23 for Indiana. Cleveland is 12-0 when starting 2-0 in the postseason.
l Kawhi Leonard had a postseason career-high 37 points and added 11 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs beat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 96-82 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.
LEAFS WIN IN OT
Tyler Bozak scored 1:37 into overtime to cap Toronto’s comeback from two goals down in the second period, and the host Maple Leafs beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and an assist, and William Nylander also scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves.
Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov all scored for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals. Braden Holtby stopped 24 shots.
All three games so far have been decided in overtime.
l Bobby Ryan scored on a tip-in on a power play 5:43 into overtime, and the Ottawa Senators recovered after giving up a threegoal lead to beat the host Boston Bruins 4-3 and take a 2-1 edge in the first-round series.
l Kevin Fiala scored 16:44 into overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 3-2 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks and a 3-0 lead in their opening round series.
Filip Forsberg scored twice in the third period to tie the game after Chicago took a 2-0 lead on goals by Dennis Rasmussen and Patrick Kane.
KENYANS TAKE BOSTON
Geoffrey Kirui won the 121st Boston Marathon, pulling away from three-time U.S. Olympian Galen Rupp with 2 miles to go to give Kenya its first men’s victory in five years.
Edna Kiplagat won the women’s race to complete the Kenyan sweep. They were followed closely by Americans who grabbed two of the top four women’s spots and six of the top 10 for men — the first time that’s happened since the race went professional in 1986.
Kirui finished in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 37 seconds to claim a silver trophy, a guilded olive wreath from Marathon, Greece, and the $150,000 first prize.