Rash of milestones for James as Cavs sweep away Pacers
LeBron James stuck to the old script Sunday.
Again, he bailed out the Cleveland Cavaliers. And again, he sent the Indiana Pacers home for vacation.
On yet another milestone day for basketball’s king, James’ crowning achievement was making the go-ahead threepointer with 1:08 to play and helping the defending champions hold on for a series-clinching 106-102 victory at Indiana.
“You have to mentally challenge yourself every year and go out and try to do what’s right — putting your body on the line, putting your team on the line and trying to be successful,” James said. “It’s very hard.”
But the four-time MVP makes it look easy. He finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks.
By winning his 21st consecutive first-round game, James broke a tie with the Lakers’ Michael Cooper, Magic Johnson and James Worthy for the longest streak since 1984, when the postseason was expanded to 16 teams. By sweeping a series for the 10th time, James broke a tie with Tim Duncan for the most in a career, according to Elias Sports Bureau. By going 13of-25 from the field, he pulled into a tie with Kobe Bryant for the fourth-highest postseason field-goal total with 2,014.
And James improved to 52-0 in the playoffs when his team takes a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter.
James considered the milestones a footnote on a day the Cavs blew a 13-point lead and allowed the Pacers to come all the way back and take a 102-100 lead with 1:31 to go.
“They were giving it all they had,” James said. “Obviously, a loss would have ended their season. We just had to weather the storm once again.”
Of course that’s when James came to the rescue.
He made the long three to give Cleveland the lead, poked the ball away from Thaddeus Young on the next possession, grabbed the rebound when Paul George missed a three with 1.9 seconds to go that could have forced overtime and made 1 of 2 free throws to seal the win.
Now Cleveland takes a seven-game winning streak into the conference semifinals against Milwaukee or Toronto.
Lance Stephenson led the Pacers with 22 points. George had a series-low 15.
“It’s real frustrating to continue on losing to the same team or same person,” George said after the Pacers were eliminated by a James-led team for the fourth time in six years. “Ultimately, he is who I’m always going to have to see and face.”
Jazz 105, Clippers 98:
Joe Johnson scored 28 points, and host Utah won to tie the first-round playoff series 2-2. Johnson, who hit the winning shot in Game 1, scored 11 straight Jazz points during a crucial stretch in the fourth quarter, including a pull-up jumper for a 91-90 lead with 3:55 remaining after Utah trailed by seven early in the period. The Clippers never led again after controlling the game for most of the night. Rodney Hood and Joe Ingles also hit big baskets for Utah down the stretch. The Jazz needed all the help they could get after Gordon Hayward left with food poisoning. Game 5 will be Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
Rockets 113, Thunder 109:
Nene scored 28 points on perfect shooting from the field, and visiting Houston grabbed a 3-1 lead in its first-round playoff series against Oklahoma City. Nene made all 12 of his shots and had 10 rebounds. He helped the Rockets overcome an off night by James Harden, who finished with 16 points on 5-for-16 shooting. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Houston. Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook had a tripledouble by halftime and finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists. He went into a tirade after the game when teammate Steven Adams was asked about the Thunder’s tendency to lose leads when Westbrook is out of the game, saying, “I don’t want nobody to try and split us up. We’re all one team. If I go to the bench and Steven’s on the floor and I’m off the floor, we’re in this together . ... We play as a team. That’s all that matters.”
Celtics 104, Bulls 95:
Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points, and visiting Boston beat Chicago to tie their first-round series 2-2. Boston blew a 20-point lead, but Thomas keyed a thirdquarter run that put the Celtics back up after Chicago went ahead. Gerald Green made four treys on his way to 18 points, helping the top-seeded Celtics return the favor in Chicago after dropping the first two games at home. Al Horford added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Game 5 is Wednesday in Boston.
Briefly:
The NBA fined Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo $25,000 for attempting to trip Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder from the bench in Game 3 of their first-round series . ... The NBA fined Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley $25,000 for confronting a fan after Game 3 of the team’s series against Oklahoma City.