Thu | Dec 7, 2023

Cavs sweep Celts as James scores 27 in NBA

Published:Monday | April 27, 2015 | 4:34 PM
AP
AP Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (right) passes the ball past Boston Celtics guard Phil Pressey, in the third quarter of a first-round NBA playoff basketball game in Boston on Sunday. The Cavaliers won 101-93.

BOSTON (AP):

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 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 Clippers' Chris Paul had 34 points and seven assists and 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 two games each. 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 Five of the only series that is level after four games is today in Los Angeles.

first sweep

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. Next up for the Wizards will be No. 1 seed Atlanta or No. 8 Brooklyn.

The Dallas Mavericks avoided elimination with a 121-109 win over the Houston Rockets after Monta Ellis scored 31 points and J.J. Barea had 17 points and 13 assists in his first play-off start since boosting Dallas' run to the 2011 championship. Dallas cut Houston's lead to 3-1 in the first-round series. Game Five is tonight in Houston.