BOSTON (AP) — LeBron James scored 27 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a shoulder injury to Kevin Love to complete a first-round sweep of the Boston Celtics with a 101-93 victory Sunday. ADVERTISING BOSTON (AP) — LeBron James scored
BOSTON (AP) — LeBron James scored 27 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a shoulder injury to Kevin Love to complete a first-round sweep of the Boston Celtics with a 101-93 victory Sunday.
Love left the court in the first quarter with a dislocated left shoulder, and J.R. Smith was ejected for swinging his arm at Jae Crowder, but the Cavaliers held on to win a series for the first time since 2010, before James left for Miami.
Now Cleveland gets extra time before facing the winner of the Chicago-Milwaukee series. The Bulls lead 3-1.
The Cavaliers led 57-36 at halftime even though James missed eight of 12 shots and Love left the game for good after becoming entangled with Boston’s Kelly Olynyk while chasing a loose ball. Love immediately headed for the locker room.
The Cavaliers said Love would return to Cleveland with the team and receive additional examination, imaging and evaluation at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health over the next 24 hours before his status is updated.
CLIPPERS 114, SPURS 105
SAN ANTONIO — Chris Paul had 34 points and seven assists, Blake Griffin added 20 points and 19 rebounds, and Los Angeles beat San Antonio to even their first-round series at two games apiece.
J.J. Redick scored 17 points for the Clippers and Austin Rivers provided an unexpected boost off the bench with a postseason career-high 16 points.
Game 5 of the only series that is tied after four games is Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points, Tim Duncan had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Tony Parker added 18 points, but Paul proved too much.
Paul hit jumpers over Parker and Duncan in scoring six straight points for the Clippers beginning midway through the fourth quarter. He then drove the lane and kicked out to Redick, who drained a 3-pointer for a 106-92 lead.
WIZARDS 125, RAPTORS 94
WASHINGTON — Washington emphatically completed the first sweep of a seven-game series in club history, getting 23 points from Bradley Beal and 21 points and 11 rebounds from Marcin Gortat to beat Toronto.
Paul Pierce, who repeatedly said he didn’t want to have to go back through U.S. Customs for any more games in Canada, added 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter as Washington’s lead reached 32 entering the fourth.
Washington has reached the second round of the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since getting to the NBA Finals in 1979, a year after winning the title.
Next up for the Wizards will be No. 1 seed Atlanta or No. 8 Brooklyn.
MAVERICKS 121, ROCKETS 109
DALLAS — Monta Ellis scored 31 points, J.J. Barea had 17 points and 13 assists in his first playoff start since boosting Dallas’ run to the 2011 championship and the Mavericks avoided elimination with a victory over Houston.
Dallas cut Houston’s lead to 3-1 in the first-round series. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Houston.
The Rockets, trying to wrap up their first postseason series victory since 2009, missed 17 consecutive shots covering the second and third quarters. The most-prolific 3-point shooting team in NBA history in the regular season was 7 of 31 from long range.
James Harden scored 24 points, and Dwight Howard had 13. But the big man was kept under control after scoring 10 points with two more alley-oop dunks in the first quarter.
