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CLEVELAND, Ohio: LeBron James scored 21 points while adding
six rebounds and a playoff career-high tying 13 assists to lead the
Cleveland Cavaliers past Boston 88-77 Monday and level their
second-round series.
James dunked over National Basketball
Association Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett in the final
minutes to pull the Cavaliers even with top seed Boston at 2-2 in
their best-of-seven Eastern Conference second-round series.
“We took care of home court. That is what we
needed to do,” James said. “We held down home court, they held
down home court. The better team has to win on the road to win the
series.”
James sank only 7-of-20 from the field but
slammed the ball through the rim over Garnett with a windmill dunk
to give the Cavaliers a nine-point lead with 1:45 to play.
While only 20-of-78 from the field for the
series, James sparked Cleveland to victory. The Celtics were only
5-of-16 for only 12 points in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been able to cover for each other,
flying around and contest at the same time,” James said. “It has
been amazing.”
Garnett finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds
but the Celtics, who had the NBA’s best record in the
regular-season, lost their fifth road game in a row in the playoffs.
Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen added 15 points for
the Celtics while Paul Pierce added 13 points for the Celtics, who
host game 5 Thursday.
“We’re not going to stop those guys, but the
one thing we want our guys to do is make them work as hard as we can
for their shots,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “If we do,
then we’ve done our job.”
Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao helped shut down
Garnett, who was only 1-of-7 in the second half.
“What I tried to do is be physical with him
and not give him any space to think about what to do,” Varejao
said. “And that’s what it is. It’s not only me, it’s the
team.”
Varejao also added 12 points and 6 rebounds.
“That’s my game—energy. Trying to help the
team,” Varejao said. “Rebound, run up and down, being active.
That’s all I have to do to help the team. I don’t have to do
anything else like scoring.”
“It was phenomenal,” Cleveland’s Wally
Szczerbiak said. “He showed his value to this team. He was banged
up. His knee was bothering him.”
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