8th Finals in row for LBJ
BOSTON — With another Game 7 victory at stake, LeBron James would not sit out.
He would not say goodbye to Cleveland again — not yet, anyway.
And he would not be denied an eighth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.
The four- time league MVP had 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists Sunday night, leading the Cavaliers to an 87- 79 victory against the Celtics and eliminating Boston from the Eastern Conference finals.
“He’s had a lot of gaudy games,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “But I just think Game 7, in Boston, all the circumstances that surround Boston, the history behind Boston . . . to come here in a hostile environment: It’s right there.”
In the first close game of the series, the lowest- scoring and the first victory for a road team, James played all 48 minutes, scoring 12 of his points in the fourth quarter for his sixth straight Game 7 win.
“Our goal going into the series was to make him exert as much energy as humanly possible and try to be as good as we can on everybody else,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “For the most part, I thought we were pretty good at that . . . but he still scored 35. It’s a joke.”
For the would- be free agent, the victory postponed a decision about his future until next month.
Now, the only question is whom the Cavaliers will play for a chance at their second title in three years: The Rockets host Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Warriors on Monday night, and the winner will host the opener of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, Al Horford had 17 and Marcus Morris added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who were looking to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. They had been 10- 0 at home this postseason.
Tatum had a dunk over James with 6: 41 left — staring down the Cavaliers star and bumping him with his chest — then followed it with a three- pointer that gave the Celtics a 72- 71 lead. But that would be Boston’s last basket for more than five minutes while Cleveland went on a 15- 2 run to put the game away.
James has been in the Finals every year since 2011 — four with the Heat and now four in a row with Cleveland.
This might be his weakest supporting cast. He had to do it without Kevin Love — Cleveland’s only other All- Star — who suffered a concussion in Game 6 and was replaced in the lineup by Jeff Green. Making his first start since the first- round opener against the Pacers, Green had 19 points and eight rebounds.