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James dazzles as Cavs rally to beat Celtics in game seven
LOS ANGELES, May 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – LeBron James booked his eighth
straight NBA finals appearance, delivering another epic game-seven
performance on the road as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to beat the Boston
Celtics 87-79 on Sunday.
The 33-year-old James played all 48 minutes and finished with 35 points,
15 rebounds and nine assists for the Cavaliers who are in the league
championship for the fourth consecutive year.
“This is the last chapter for our team this season,” said James. “It’s
been a whirlwind. It has been roses. There have been thorns in the roses.
This is one of the most challenging seasons I have had.”
Cleveland became the first team to win on the road in the best-of-seven
Eastern Conference championship series and the first to beat the Celtics at
home in the postseason.
“Win, loss or draw, at end of my career you are never going to get someone
to say I didn’t leave it out on floor,” the four-time league MVP James said.
The Cavaliers will take on either the reigning champion Golden State
Warriors or Houston Rockets in the championship series. The Warriors
dominated the Rockets 115-86 on Saturday to force a decisive game seven which
will take place Monday in Houston.
James believes that they can outhustle, outsmart and out coach whoever
they face in the final.
“We have and opportunity to win a championship. No matter whether we are
picked to win or not, we have a great game plan. We are going to try to get
better throughout the series,” he said.
James led the Cavaliers in the first half with 17 points and 10 rebounds
but they trailed for much of the half in front of a crowd of 18,600 at the
Boston Garden.
It wasn’t until the second half that his supporting cast came to life and
the Cavaliers were able to wrestle control back from the Celtics in the low-
scoring contest.
“He’s unbelievable,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “I thought it was an
outstanding defensive game. And again he still had 35, 15 and nine. It’s
ridiculous and he does it with the pressure and scrutiny.”
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– Plays entire game –
James said he knew ahead of time he was going to have to play 48 minutes.
“It was asked of me tonight to play the whole game, and I just tried to
figure out how I could get through it,” said James, who played 48 minutes for
the first time in a playoff game since 2006 as a 21-year-old against the
Detroit Pistons.
“Throughout the timeouts, I was able to catch my breath. At halftime, I
didn’t come out and warm up. That was my time to recalibrate and catch my
wind again.
“I’m the leader of this team, and I’m going to give what I’ve got.”
James said halfway through the season he made up his mind that no matter
what happens he was going to try and keep a positive attitude.
“Right before the break I kind of reset. I didn’t know if we were going to
make trades or not,” he said.
“But I just reset my mindset and said ‘OK, this is the season and let’s
try to make the most of it’.”
Jeff Green finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, J.R. Smith tallied
12 points and Tristan Thompson scored 10 for Cleveland who beat Boston 109-99
on Friday to force game seven.
Jayson Tatum paced the Celtic attack with 24 points as Boston suffered
their only loss in 11 playoff home games.
Al Horford finished with 17 points and Jaylen Brown had 13 but he was just
three-of-12 from the three-point line.
– Celtics fire blanks –
Boston made the mistake of using the three pointer as their main offensive
weapon down the stretch but they finished a dismal seven-of-39 overall from
beyond the arc.
“We just couldn’t quite knock them down, and to no fault of anybody. Just
happens. You have nights like that,” said Stevens.
The Celtics ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run and led 43-39 at the half
in what would turn out to be the lowest scoring game in the series.
The possibility existed that a loss Sunday would have been James’ last
game with the Cavaliers. He can opt out of his $35.6 million contract at the
end of the season and become a free agent.
James has said in the past he plans to retire a Cavalier but this is his
second stint in Cleveland after he left once before for Miami in 2010. Los
Angeles, Philadelphia and New York are believed to be ready to pounce if he
becomes available.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1200 hrs