Cavaliers blow out Celtics to even series

Boston shooters struggle from the three-point line

Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points, Evan Mobley had 21 points and 10 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the topseeded Boston Celtics 118-94 on Thursday night to tie their secondround playoff series at one game apiece.

Two nights after losing by 25 points, with Mitchell scoring 33 but getting little help, the Cavaliers seized the lead in the third quarter and answered with a blowout of their own. Mitchell scored 16 in the third, hitting three straight baskets early in the fourth, including a 28foot, banked three-pointer that left him shrugging his shoulders as he backpedaled on defence.

Jayson Tatum scored 25 for Boston, and Jaylen Brown added 19 points. But Derrick White, whose 25 points in Game 1 helped the Celtics coast to a 120-95 win, managed just 10 points, missing seven of his eight three-point tries.

The series moves to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday, with a return trip to Boston on Wednesday.

Caris LeVert scored 21 off the bench for Cleveland, hitting a pullup jumper midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Cavaliers a 20-point lead and started a parade of fans to the exits. Many of those who stayed began booing.

A minute later, after the Celtics missed another three-pointer — they were 8 for 35 from long distance — LeVert made a layup and drew a flagrant foul from

Tatum. It was a

25-point game and Boston coach Joe Mazzulla emptied his bench.

Cleveland's

J.B. Bickerstaff followed soon after, getting some rest for Mitchell, who played a game-high 37 minutes on Tuesday night.

Anunoby out

Anunoby won't play for the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Friday night because of a strained left hamstring, while Jalen Brunson is questionable with a sore right foot.

Brunson returned from his injury after missing the second quarter to lead the Knicks to a 130-121 victory on Wednesday for a 2-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers. But Anunoby was hurt in the second half after scoring a career playoff-high 28 points.

The Knicks are 26-5 this season with Anunoby in the lineup, which he joined after being acquired from Toronto on Dec. 30.

Suns fire Vogel

Frank Vogel's tenure as coach of the Phoenix Suns is done after one disappointing season that ended without a playoff victory.

The franchise fired the 50-yearold Vogel on Thursday, less than two weeks after getting swept out of the NBA playoffs by Minnesota.

Vogel was hired last summer and charged with leading the Suns' allstar trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal but the group was never quite able to jell. Beal was hurt for much of the first half of the season and, when he returned, the Suns were plagued by turnovers and a thin bench.

Former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, who beat the Suns in the 2021 Finals, is a potential candidate to replace Vogel.