Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Box Score on May 25, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 25, 2017

BOSTON -- LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers are headed back to the NBA Finals.

James scored 35 points and added eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals, and Kyrie Irving posted 24 points and seven assists to power the Cavaliers to a 135-102 blowout of the Boston Celtics in Game 5 to clinch the Eastern Conference title.

The Cavaliers, who sat their starters for the entire fourth quarter, begin their third straight NBA Finals series against the Golden State Warriors next Thursday in Oakland. Cleveland won the 2016 after Golden State prevailed in 2015.

James will appear in his seventh consecutive Finals as he seeks his fourth title.

The Warriors are 12-0 in the playoffs this year.

James, who shot 13 of 18 from the floor and 4 of 7 from 3-point range, hit a 3-pointer with 2:41 left in the third quarter to pass Michael Jordan and become the NBA's all-time leading playoff scorer.

For the third time in as many TD Garden games in the series, the Cavaliers never trailed. Cleveland won the three road games in the series by a combined 90 points, the last two by a total of 77.

Kevin Love had 15 points and 11 rebounds and was a plus-43, and Deron Williams added 14 points in 17 minutes off the bench in the win that made Cleveland 12-1 in the postseason.

Avery Bradley led the Celtics with 23 points, and Gerald Green scored 14.

With 2:44 left, the remaining Boston fans began a "Let's Go Celtics" chant that kept going until the final horn, cheering every basket as if the game was close.

The Celtics made some noise near the end of the first half, but Irving scored Cleveland's first 11 points in the first 3:18 of the second half before two baskets by James ballooned the lead to 25 with 6:39 left in the third quarter. It soon grew to 32 and then to 35 by the end of the quarter.

James scored 15 and Irving 13 in the quarter, with James hitting three bombs in the final 2:41.

Irving, who shook off a Game 4 twisted ankle, was 9 of 15 from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3-point range.

The 109 points through three quarters marked the most the Celtics have allowed in the shot-clock era.

The Cleveland regulars were 16 of 33 from behind the arc through three quarters -- after the Cavs went 19 of 39 on treys in a 44-point win in Game 2. They finished 19 of 41 Thursday.

NOTES: Cavs F LeBron James pregame on getting set to pass Michael Jordan and become the NBA's all-time leading playoff scorer: "It's just a personal goal of mine. It has nothing to do with passing the rings, passing the points, passing MVPs. It's just my personal goal to keep me motivated -- that's all." ... Celtics G Avery Bradley on the team's first home game since the Game 2 Cleveland blowout, said, "We owe our fans a better performance." ... All three of Boston's walking wounded -- Fs Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown and Amir Johnson -- were able to play. ... Acting Golden State coach Mike Brown, asked about Cavs coach Tyronn Lue's comment that the Celtics are "harder" to defend that the Warriors, said, "That's his opinion. It's cute." ... The Cavaliers' 43 points in the first quarter made them the first playoff team since the 1990 Celtics with three 40-point quarters against the same team. ... The Celtics observed a moment of silence for the victims of Monday's bombing in Manchester, England.