Cleveland now one win away.
Irving scores 42 points as Cleveland downs Celtics, goes up 3-1
Kyrie Irving gritted his teeth, tightened up his left sneaker and hopped to his feet.
The pain didn’t stop him. The Celtics didn’t either.
Irving took over in the second half and finished with 42 points, LeBron James added 34 and the Cleveland Cavaliers moved within one win of an almost inevitable third date in the Finals with the Warriors by rallying to beat visiting Boston 112-99 on Tuesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
With James in foul trouble, Irving stayed on the floor despite rolling his left ankle in the third quarter, when he scored 19 points in less than five minutes.
“He put us on his back and carried us,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
The defending NBA champions, who shot 71 percent in the second half to open a 3-1 lead in the series, can wrap up their third straight conference title — and a “three-match” against the Warriors — with a win in Game 5 on Thursday night in Boston.
But if Games 3 and 4 are any indication, it won’t be easy.
Fighting to keep their season alive, the Celtics aren’t giving an inch despite playing without All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, who may need surgery on a hip injury.
The Cavs, meanwhile, wouldn’t be on the cusp of the Finals without Irving.
With Cleveland in jeopardy of dropping its second game in a row after James followed an 11-point Game 3 by picking up four first-half fouls, Irving put on a breathtaking one-man show in the third quarter.
Freezing Boston defenders with his dribble and driving to the basket whenever he wanted, Irving made six layups, two 3-pointers and a free throw in a dizzying span of 4:48. He capped his blistering 19-point outburst with a 3 in the final second of the quarter and celebrated at mid-court by pretending to put two pistols back in his holster.
“Coming out of halftime I just wanted to be aggressive, lead my guys and leave it all out there on the floor,” Irving said.
Thomas sees specialist: The Celtics’ Thomas has visited one hip specialist and plans to see others.
Thomas, who is done for the season with a right hip injury he sustained in March and aggravated in the playoffs, told coach Brad Stevens that he intends to get “one or two more opinions” before a course of action is set.
Stevens said Thomas told him he’s still sore and there is still significant inflammation in his hip.
Ainge’s son to run: The son of Celtics president and former BYU basketball standout Danny Ainge is running for Congress in a Utah special election for the seat of resigning U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz. Tanner Ainge filed paperwork Monday to run as a Republican.
Magic: Jeff Weltman is finally getting the chance to run his own team after more than two decades of toil in NBA front offices. Faced with the daunting task of remaking the Magic, he wasted little time in adding a familiar face to help him.
Hours after the Magic formally announced Weltman as its president of basketball operations, he named longtime NBA executive John Hammond the club’s new general manager.