LeBron James scored 27 points as 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 on Sunday.
Love left the court in the first quarter with a dislocated left shoulder, while 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 the Miami Heat.
Now Cleveland get extra time before facing the winners of the Chicago-Milwaukee series. The Bulls lead 3-1.
Photo: AFP
The Cavaliers said Love would return to Cleveland with the team and receive an additional examination, imaging and evaluation at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health over the following 24 hours before his status is updated.
Also on Sunday, the Clippers’ Chris Paul had 34 points and seven assists, while Blake Griffin added 20 points and 19 rebounds as Los Angeles beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-105 to even their first-round series at 2-2.
J.J. Redick scored 17 points for the Clippers and Austin Rivers provided an unexpected boost off the bench with a post-season career-high 16 points.
Game 5 of the only series that is level after four games is scheduled for today 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 three-pointer for a 106-92 lead.
The Washington Wizards 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 the Toronto Raptors 125-94.
Paul Pierce, who repeatedly said he did not want to have to go back through US Customs for any more games in Canada, added 14 points, including a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter as Washington’s lead reached 32 entering the fourth.
Washington have reached the second round of the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since getting to the NBA Finals in 1978-1979, a year after winning the title.
Next up for the Wizards are No. 1 seeds the Atlanta Hawks or No. 8 seeds the Brooklyn Nets.
The Dallas Mavericks avoided elimination with a 121-109 win over the Houston Rockets after Monta Ellis scored 31 points, while J.J. Barea had 17 points and 13 assists in his first playoff start since boosting Dallas’ run to the 2010-2011 championship.
Dallas cut Houston’s lead to 3-1 in the first-round series. Game 5 is scheduled for today in Houston, Texas.
The Rockets, trying to wrap up their first post-season series victory since 2008-2009, missed 17 consecutive shots covering the second and third quarters.
The most-prolific three-point shooting team in NBA history in the regular season were seven of 31 from long range.
James Harden scored 24 points, while 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.
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