|
Home>News Center>Sports | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Cavaliers down Celtics, keep hopes alive
The Cavaliers still have a playoff pulse. LeBron James and Robert Traylor made sure their team would play at least one more meaningful game, leading Cleveland past the Boston Celtics 100-86 Tuesday night.
Cleveland closed its final home game with a 10-0 run to put away the Celtics, who did not use their best players in the fourth.
The Cavaliers, whose first playoff appearance since 1998 seemed a certainty before a stunning second-half collapse, need to win at Toronto in their season finale Wednesday night and hope the Celtics can bounce back at home and beat the Nets.
New Jersey, which defeated Washington 109-101 Tuesday night, holds the tiebreaker over Cleveland.
The Cavs had better hope Boston coach Doc Rivers plays his stars against New Jersey. Rivers rested Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce for the entire fourth quarter. Still, the Celtics were within 90-86 with 3:46 left.
That's when Traylor got whistled for a technical foul following a loose-ball scramble in which he climbed over and allegedly kicked Justin Reed. Traylor vented by kicking a hole in the scorer's table.
Ricky Davis missed the foul shot, and after a steal by James, Snow scored on a layup to make it 92-86. Traylor then scored on a jumper, dunked a miss by Snow and hit two free throws to put Cleveland ahead 98-86. James' dunk with 29 seconds left sealed it, and the Cavaliers embraced on the floor before lining up to give away their game jerseys and sneakers on Fan Appreciation Night.
Walker finished with 22 points and Davis had 15 for the Celtics, who clinched their first Atlantic Division title in 13 years on Sunday. Pierce had just five points on 2-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes.
Fittingly, the home finale in this tumultuous season for Cleveland included a little controversy surrounding Jeff McInnis. The point guard, who inexplicably went from starter to benchwarmer in March, remained in the locker room after halftime.
When he finally returned with 6:09 left in the third quarter, McInnis chose not to join the huddle during timeouts, staying in his chair with a towel wrapped around his head. He went back to the locker room for the fourth quarter. A team spokesman said he had food poisoning.
From the outset, James looked determined to put Cleveland's fate in his hands. He dunked four seconds after the opening tip, and by halftime had amassed 24 points, six rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.
Unable to count on getting much help from his teammates recently, James got a ton of it in the second quarter from the 290-pound Traylor. The big man scored 12 points, added six rebounds and energized the Cavaliers, who took a 58-47 lead at the break.
James' second rebound gave him 1,000 in two seasons, making him the youngest player in league history to record 3,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. He also became the second fastest to reach the milestones, getting there in his 158th career game. Oscar Robertson did it in 115.
With C Zydrunas Ilgauskas possibly on his way out as a free agent, James, who has openly campaigned to get the Cavs to re-sign the All-Star center, said he wouldn't again without the Lithuanian's blessing. "I have to talk to him first," James said. "It's not about LeBron and management, it's whether or not he (Ilgauskas) wants to come back." ... Although his team has nothing at stake, Rivers promised before the game he would to play everyone the next two nights. "Whatever I do tonight, I'll do tomorrow (against New Jersey)," he said. ... Cleveland finished 29-12 at home after going 23-18 at the Gund a year ago.
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
