Cavs take 2- 0 lead with rout
BOSTON — LeBron James scored 30 points, Kevin Love had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers steamrolled the Boston Celtics 130- 86 on Friday night to take a 2- 0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals and tie an NBA record with their 13th consecutive playoff victory.
Cleveland led by 14 points after one quarter, by a record 41 at the half and by 46 after three. Even with James and the rest of the starters sitting out the fourth quarter, the 130 points were the most ever scored by the franchise in a playoff game.
Kyrie Irving had 23 points for the Cavaliers, who return home with a chance to finish off the Celtics. It would be the third consecutive sweep this postseason for the defending NBA champions. Game 3 is Sunday night. “It’s one game. I don’t care if you win by 200 points,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We’re going back home, we’re not going to get comfortable. We understand that this is a good team. They’re not No. 1 in the East for no reason.”
The Celtics played the second half without Isaiah Thomas due to a strained right hip. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the star point guard had a nagging injury that he aggravated a week ago during the second- round series against Washington.
“He was pretty despondent not to be able to play,” Stevens said. ‘‘ That guy’s a tough guy, and he plays through a lot. For him to have to sit was pretty hard.”
Asked howmuch that hurt his team, Stevens said, “Not 44 points worth.”
“I don’t want to put that on any one guy,” he said. “Ultimately, they were terrific. We were poor. You’ve got to be able to pick up the slack, certainly, when other guys aren’t available.”
With both teams going to their benches early in the fourth quarter, the only suspense was whether the Celtics could avoid the worst playoff loss in franchise history. The Orlando Magic beat them by 47 points in the first round of the 1995 postseason.
Still, it was the Celtics’ worst home playoff loss ever.
“It is embarrassing,” Celtics guard Avery Bradley said. “As a man, as a basketball team, it will say a lot about us how we respond.”
Thomas finished with just a pair of free throws, missing all six shots from the field; he also had six assists.