Cavaliers rip Celtics; Warriors are waiting
BOSTON — LeBron James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring leader as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics, 135-102, Thursday night to claim their third consecutive Eastern Conference title and a return trip to the NBA Finals.
Kyrie Irving added 24 points and Kevin Love finished with 15 for the Cavaliers, who never trailed and led by as many as 39 points in one of their most dominating wins of the series. The Cavaliers set an NBA record by winning their 13th consecutive series closeout opportunity.
Cleveland’s 4-1 series’ win gives it a 12-1 record this postseason and sets up a third consecutive matchup with Western Conference champion Golden State, the team it beat in the Finals last season to claim the franchise’s first championship.
It will mark the seventh trip in a row to the Finals for James.
Avery Bradley led Boston with 23 points.
The Cavaliers basically conceded the East’s top seed to the Celtics at the end of the regular season by opting to rest its starters in advance of the playoffs. But they displayed their superiority over the final two gamesto wrap up the series.
After allowing the Celtics to seize the early momentum in Game 4 Tuesday, the Cavaliers barely gave them a chance in Game 5.
Led by its Big Three, Cleveland quickly built a 21-point lead in the first quarter, while getting lots of contributions from their teammates.
Love continued to knock down shots from the outside, Irving sliced his way into the lane to the rim and James got free for several of his one-handed, tomahawk dunks.
It was a very welcomed sight in Irving’s case, after he rolled his left ankle in the third quarter of Cleveland’s Game 4 win. He showed no signs of lingering issues, though, beating several defenders off the dribble and handing out seven assists.
Meanwhile, J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver all helped spread out Boston’s defenders by connecting on several wide-open scoring opportunities.
Deron Williams, who had been quiet for most of the series, also got in on the act with a series-best 14 points for Cleveland.
The Celtics did their best to keep up, but the consistent outside shooting, bench scoring and defense they relied on to stun Cleveland in Game 3 wasn’t there Thursday night.
James has scored 30 or more points in 11 of Cleveland’s 13 games this postseason. The 43 points Cleveland scored in the first quarter set a team postseason record for points in a quarter.
The Celtics had a pregame moment of silence for the victims of the Manchester bombing Monday in England.