James scores 43 as Cavaliers beat Raptors in Game 2
TORONTO — Watching LeBron James at shootaround, Kevin Love knew something special was in store. Maybe not the fadeaway jumpers James kept making, each seemingly with a higher degree of difficulty than the last, but he was sure there would be something.
“This morning you could just sense it,” Love said. “He knew what was at stake, he knew us getting another win here was going to be huge for us. He came out and he played that way from the jump. You could just sense that he was going to have a special night.”
James had 43 points and 14 assists, Love added 31 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 128-110 on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in their secondround playoff series.
James delivered the first 40-point, 14-assist game in NBA playoff history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
He added eight rebounds, narrowly missing his second straight triple-double, and connected on 19 of 28 attempts in a performance so dominant that the beleaguered Raptors’ city was being called “LeBronto” by the time the night was over.
“He got it going and he was feeling it,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
James, meanwhile, gave credit to Love, who shot 11 for 21 and missed matching his career playoff high by one point.
“It was great to see that performance out of him,” James said. “He’s our All-Star power forward. That’s a huge game for him.”
J.R. Smith scored 15 points, Jeff Green had 14 and George Hill 13 as the Cavaliers posted their eighth consecutive postseason victory over the Raptors and halted Toronto’s fourgame winning streak in Game 2s. The Raptors entered 6-1 all-time when playing Game 2 at home.
“Love got going on us and that was a difficult matchup for us,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We have some matchup issues all over the court.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points and Kyle Lowry had 21 for the Raptors. Toronto won a team-record 59 games and finished as the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference this season, but was easily shoved one step closer to a third straight postseason exit at the hands of James and the Cavs.
Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Fred VanVleet scored 14 points, but the Raptors lost back-to-back home games for the first time all season.
Toronto matched Houston by going 34-7 at home in the regular season, and went 3-0 at home against Washington in round one. The Raptors had not lost consecutive home games since dropping Games 3 and 4 of the second round to Cleveland last May.
The series shifts to Ohio for Game 3 on Saturday night. Toronto has gone 0-5 at Cleveland over the past two postseasons, losing by an average margin of 24.2 points per game.
“Sometimes when you’re put in tough situations, that’s what brings the best out of you,” DeRozan said. “That’s what point we’re at now.”
Unfortunately for the Raptors, James insisted the Cavs aren’t satisfied with their 2-0 lead. “We will not let our guards down,” James promised. The Cavaliers, who tied a postseason low with three turnovers, are 21-3 at home against Eastern Conference opponents in the playoffs over the past four years.
The Raptors, who let a 10-point lead slip away in a 113-112 overtime loss in Game 1, were up 54-45 midway through the second quarter but saw their lead dwindle to 63-61 at halftime.
Cleveland took control as Smith scored six points in an 18-5 spurt to begin the third quarter. The Cavs outscored the Raptors 37-24 in the third to take an 11-point edge into the fourth, and Toronto didn’t challenge again.
“That’s kind of what won the game for us,” Lue said of Cleveland’s big third quarter.
James was on target in Cleveland’s game-changing third quarter, connecting on seven of 10 attempts and scoring 15 points. Love added nine as the Cavs took a 98-87 lead to the fourth.
Game 3 is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
CELTICS 108, 76ERS 103
In Boston, rookie Jayson Tatum scored 21 points and hit a pair of free throws in the closing second, and the Celtics rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat Philadelphia to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Terry Rozier added 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Marcus Smart finished with 19 points and five rebounds as the Celtics improved to 6-0 at TD Garden this postseason. They have never blown a 2-0 lead. Game 3 is Saturday in Philadelphia. J.J. Redick had 23 points for the 76ers, making five 3-pointers. Robert Covington added 22 points and nine rebounds. Joel Embiid finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but rookie star Ben Simmons missed all four shots and had just one point.
Philadelphia recovered after squandering its big lead to nudge back in front 93-88 midway through the fourth quarter.
But an 11-4 run put Boston back in the lead 99-95 with less than four minutes to play.
It was 101-97 when a missed Philadelphia jumper led to a 2-on-1 fast break and alley-oop dunk from Rozier to Tatum with 2:23 left.
A layup by Dario Saric cut it to 104-101. But Al Horford was able to drive past Embiid for a layup with 8.3 seconds left.
Saric scored out of a timeout to make it 106-103. The Sixers quickly fouled Tatum, who calmly hit a pair of free throws.
Following an anemic offensive effort in Game 1, the Sixers looked rejuvenated early in Game 2, using a 14-2 run to begin the second quarter on their way to building a 48-26 lead. It didn’t last. The Celtics responded by ending the half on a 25-8 run. It included three straight 3-pointers and a tip-dunk by Jaylen Brown, who returned to action after sitting out the series opener with a strained right hamstring. He came off the bench and played 25 minutes, scoring 13 points and grabbing four rebounds.
Prior to Thursday, Brown had started every game he’d appeared in this season. It was his first time off the bench since Game 5 of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals.