James into eighth NBA finals in a row
BOSTON: LeBron James had 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to send the Cleveland Cavaliers back to the NBA finals after an 8779 win against the Boston Celtics in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals yesterday.
James has reached the NBA finals in eight straight seasons, including four in a row with Cleveland. Only Bill Russell (10), Tom Heinsohn (nine) and Sam Jones (nine) have made more consecutive appearances in NBA history.
The Cavaliers will play the winner of today’s game seven of the Western finals between Houston and Golden State. Cleveland has faced the Warriors in the last three NBA finals, winning in 2016 and losing in 2015 and 2017.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points to lead the Celtics, who lost at home for the first time this postseason in 11 games. Al Horford added 17 points and Marcus Morris had a doubledouble with 14 points and 12 boards.
Boston was denied its first finals trip since 2010, when it lost to the rival Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.
Jeff Green had 19 points and eight rebounds, JR Smith scored 12 points and Tristan Thompson had 10 points and nine boards for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland won without former AllStar forward Kevin Love, who missed the game after sustaining a concussion in game six. Love has entered the NBA’s concussion protocol, and his status is uncertain.
James, who entered with an NBArecord game seven average of 34.9 points, improved to 62 lifetime in game sevens.
Green’s threepointer with 4min 56sec left in the third quarter put Cleveland up 5351, the Cavs’ first lead since the opening minutes. Cleveland went ahead by as many as five after that before taking a 5956 lead into the fourth.
Tatum hit a threepointer after his driving dunk over James put Boston up 7271 with 6min 04sec remaining in the game, but Green answered with another trey at the 5min 44sec mark, and Cleveland did not relinquish the lead after that.
Boston was up 4339 at halftime after leading by as many as 12 in the first half. — Field Level Media