CLEVELAND — LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined to score all 24 fourth-quarter points and the Cavaliers survived a scare from the Boston Celtics for a 99-91 victory Tuesday, giving the Cavs a 2-0 lead in their opening-round series.
James scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth and Irving added nine of his 26 points in the fourth. James also had nine rebounds and seven assists, while Irving had five rebounds and six assists.
Center Timofey Mozgov scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and forward Kevin Love had 13 points and six rebounds while battling foul trouble.
Boston guard Isaiah Thomas, who finished second this week in Sixth Man of the Year balloting, finished with 22 points, including 10 of 10 shooting at the free-throw line on a night the Celtics’ bench outscored the Cavs 51-7. Former Cavs center Tyler Zeller had 11 points and six rebounds, while Jared Sullinger scored 14 points and Jae Crowder chipped in with 10, both off the bench.
James seemed content to remain in the same facilitator role he held for most of Game 1, but when the Celtics pulled within 84-82 on a free throw from Evan Turner with 6:58 to play, James got aggressive. He scored five of the Cavs’ next seven points, allowing Cleveland to escape with home-court advantage intact after entering this series as heavy favorites.
The Celtics were within 95-89 late when James blocked Zeller’s dunk attempt, then converted with a driving basket around Zeller at the other end to put the game out of reach. Tristan Thompson grabbed three key offensive rebounds late and the Cavs survived a game that wasn’t expected to be this difficult.
Game 3 is Thursday night in Boston.
NOTES: F LeBron James shut off all communication to the outside world during the postseason. “I don’t care about nonsense,” he said. “There’s too much nonsense out there.” … F Kevin Love felt more comfortable entering Game 2 after he shot 2 of 11 in the first half of Game 1. “I was kind of running like a chicken with my head cut off out there for the first five or 10 minutes,” he joked. “And we have the stats to show that.” … Celtics coach Brad Stevens canceled his team’s morning shootaround Tuesday. “I’m big on fresh legs, clear mind,” Stevens said. “I’m a big believer in staying off your feet as much as you can in these moments.” … Stevens finished fourth in Coach of the Year voting released Tuesday, one spot ahead of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “That’s just bad voting,” Stevens joked.
Wizards 117, Raptors 106
TORONTO — Guard Bradley Beal scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed five rebounds, and the Washington Wizards took a 2-0 series lead with a 117-106 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night at Air Canada Center.
Washington became the fifth team to go up 2-0 on the road since the first round expanded to best-of-seven in 2003.
Wizards point guard John Wall added 26 points while setting a franchise playoff record with 17 assists. Center Marcin Gortat had 16 points and eight rebounds, while forward Otter Porter added 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Raptors, who got 20 points apiece from guard Lou Williams and DeMar DeRozan, face a tough road. Only three teams in NBA history won a best-of-seven series after falling behind 0-2 at home.