7th heaven: LeBron carries Cavs past Pacers
CLEVELAND — LeBron James wasn’t ready to go home or to Philadelphia or Los Angeles.
He’s heading to Toronto, bringing a Cavaliers team that isn’t done yet.
Unwilling to sit despite battling leg cramps in the second half, James scored 45 points and got some much-needed help from his teammates in Game 7 to stay unbeaten in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, leading the Cavaliers to a 105-101 win on Sunday over the Indiana Pacers, who pushed the game’s best player to the breaking point.
Following the game, an exhausted James said the series took a physical toll.
“I’m burnt right now,” he said. “I’m not thinking about Toronto right now until tomorrow. I’m ready to go home. Can we? I’m tired. I want to go home.”
James added nine rebounds, seven assists and played over 43 minutes while improving to 13-0 in the first round. He kept Cleveland’s strange season alive — for the time being — but it took everything the 33-year-old and the Cavs had to hold off the Pacers, who came in confident after a 34-point win in Game 6.
But James, who at times seemed to be playing the Pacers by himself in the series, pulled the Cavs back from the brink of elimination and at least delayed any more talk about impending free agency.
“Amazing,” Indiana’s Victor Oladipo said of James. “He did what he always does. It’s not really shocking. He’s the best in the world, and that’s what the best does and now I gotta work to get on that level.”
The Cavs will open the conference semifinals on Tuesday at top-seeded Toronto.
Early in the game, James looked at agent Rich Paul sitting courtside and told him he wasn’t coming out. James then played the first 35 minutes before heading to the locker room with one minute left in the third to be treated for what he said was “a little minor injury.” James said he was urged to get IV fluids but turned them down.
Nothing was going to keep James off the floor in what some Cleveland fans feared could have been his last game with the franchise.
He fought through the fatigue. He had no choice.
“It felt like a Game 7,” he said. “It was like, your mind is thinking like, ‘OK, besides the two I played in the Finals, you start thinking like, is this it? Could this be it?’ That’s just human nature. And then the other side of my brain was like, ‘Let’s go make something happen. Let’s go, that’s what you here for. You’re here to make plays, you’re the leader.’”
The Cavs got a huge lift from Tristan Thompson, who played just 24 minutes in the first six games but made a rare start as Cavs coach Tyronn Lue used his 34th different starting lineup this season. Thompson added 15 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Love made four 3-pointers, and George Hill returned after missing three games with back spasms to score 11 in 19 second-half minutes.
“Five guys in double figures,” said Lue, who has taken heat for some decisions in the series. “But I’m just happy Tristan, because he’s been here with us for so long and been through all of the things we’ve been through over the course of the last four years, and to step in and play the way he did, I’m just so happy for him.”
Oladipo scored 30 and Darren Collison had 23 for the Pacers, who were still within four in the final minute before a cutting James scored on a bullet pass from Kyle Korver with 30 seconds left.
Harden’s 41 points lead Rockets over Jazz in Game 1
James Harden scored 41 points and the Houston Rockets raced out to a huge lead and sailed to a 110-96 win over the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.
Houston was up by 25 at halftime behind 34 points combined from Harden and Chris Paul. The Jazz, who didn’t wrap up their firstround series with Oklahoma City until late Friday night, looked sluggish and struggled to keep pace with the energy of the top-seeded Rockets, who haven’t played since eliminating Minnesota on Wednesday.
It was Houston’s fourth straight win by 10 or more points this postseason, and the Rockets have won their five games against the Jazz by an average of 16.8 points.
Harden, who also had seven assists and eight rebounds, picked up where he left off in the regular season against the Jazz when he averaged 34.3 points, led by a 56-point performance in a 137-110 win in November that set a career-high he has since bested.
The Jazz got 21 points each from rookie Donovan Mitchell and Jae Crowder while playing without starting point guard Ricky Rubio, who sat with a strained left hamstring. It was a significant blow after he averaged NBA PLAYOFFS GLANCE (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) All times Eastern Cleveland 105, Indiana 101 (Cleveland wins, 4-3) Houston 110, Utah 96 (Houston leads, 1-0) 14 points, 7.3 rebounds and seven assists in the first round.
The Rockets had 10 3-pointers by halftime, led by three apiece from Harden and P.J. Tucker. They finished with 17, including seven from Harden.
The Rockets were up by 18 entering the fourth after Paul hit a 3-pointer at the end of the third. Utah scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to get within 86-75, but Harden made three free throws over the next minute to end the run.
Rudy Gobert, who had 11 points and nine rebounds, had a dunk after that, but a 3-pointer by Harden extended Houston’s lead to 92-77 with about 8½ minutes left.
Mitchell was shaken up when Eric Gordon stepped on his ankle as he drove to the basket with about 5½ minutes remaining. He stayed on the court for a second holding his ankle before hopping up and walking gingerly to the bench. But remained on the bench for just a few seconds before returning.
Houston still had a 15-point lead later in the fourth when Gordon stole a pass from Royce O’Neal and Harden finished with a 3 to make it 103-85 with less than four minutes to go.
Both the Rockets and the fifth-seeded Jazz are in the semifinals for the second straight year. The Rockets, who beat the Timberwolves in five games to advance, lost to the Spurs last season, and Utah was eliminated by Golden State.