Home Sports Basketball Cavaliers Finish Second Round Series With Four Straight Wins

Cavaliers Finish Second Round Series With Four Straight Wins

Published on May 9 2016 6:24 am
Last Updated on May 9 2016 6:24 am

Cleveland's Big Three is on quite a roll. Two playoff series, two sweeps. Now, the Cavaliers get to rest up for the Eastern Conference finals.

Kevin Love scored 27 points, LeBron James knocked down a huge shot with 39.2 seconds to go, and Kyrie Irving turned in another dazzling performance to lead Cleveland past the Atlanta Hawks 100-99 on Sunday.

The Cavaliers finished off the second-round series with four straight wins, just as they did in the opening round against Detroit.

"This is more than I dreamed of," Irving said. "It's what I genuinely enjoy about basketball, playing with great guys."

When James returned to Cleveland after four years in South Beach, winning the franchise's first championship was the only goal that mattered. Love was acquired from Minnesota to complete the dynamic trio, but the Cavaliers came up short in Year 1 when both Love and Irving went down with injuries in the playoffs.

Now, fully healthy and finally comfortable together after some rocky moments, LeBron & Co. cruised into the conference finals to meet either Toronto or Miami. The Raptors lead that series 2-1.

"We're in a great rhythm right now," said James, who won two titles with the Heat and wants to bring one home. "We know exactly where we want to be on the floor."

Love carried Cleveland much of the game, hitting one 3-pointer after another as the Hawks continually left him open in the corner. He went cold down the stretch but still finished 8 of 15 from beyond the arc. He made only one two-point basket -- with his toe on the stripe.

Thunder 111, Spurs 97

Kevin Durant went on a scoring spree that was spectacular, even by his standards.

The four-time NBA scoring champion matched his career playoff high with 41 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 111-97 on Sunday to tie the Western Conference semifinal series 2-2.

Durant had 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting in the second half. He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, one more than the Spurs, and did so on 6-for-6 shooting.

"When you have a deep team, those 40-point nights -- they don't come a lot," he said. "I'm just trying to be consistent in what I do, and I know in any given moment, I can go off and get a few shots."

Durant had plenty of help.

"My teammates did a great job of sticking with me and finding me and getting me easy baskets and screening for me and sacrificing their bodies, and I'm definitely grateful for it," he said. "After they do all that, it's on me to finish the shot and just stick to the fundamentals I've been practicing since I was a kid."

Russell Westbrook finished with 14 points and 15 assists, Dion Waiters added 17 points, and Steven Adams had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City. The Thunder shot 50.6 percent overall and 57 percent in the second half to avoid going back to San Antonio down 3-1 for Game 5 on Tuesday.

"Durant got away from us," San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard said. "Westbrook did a great job getting his teammates involved. But [they] got those offensive rebounds when we'd get him to miss."

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 22 points, Leonard had 21, and LaMarcus Aldridge had 20.

San Antonio led by 11 early in the second quarter, but the Thunder rallied and took a 45-44 lead on a 3-pointer by Durant with 1:47 left in the first half. The Spurs closed the quarter on a 9-0 run, with all the points coming from Leonard and Aldridge, to take a 53-45 lead at the break. Durant and Westbrook were a combined 6-for-21 from the field in the first half.

Boris Diaw's 3-pointer from the corner in the closing seconds of the third quarter gave the Spurs an 81-77 lead heading into the fourth.

Durant took over early in the final quarter. His back-to-back 3s gave the Thunder a 93-87 lead. Enes Kanter's fast-break dunk pushed the lead to 100-93. San Antonio hung tough, but a baseline floater, a layup and a corner 3 by Durant made it 108-97.

Sunday, May 8 Scoreboard

Cleveland 100, Atlanta 99

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - GAME 4

Oklahoma City 111, San Antonio 97

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - GAME 4

Monday, May 9 Schedule (All Times Central)

Toronto at Miami, 7 p.m.

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - GAME 4

Golden State at Portland, 9:30 p.m.

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - GAME 4

Tuesday, May 10 Schedule (All Times Central)

Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 7 p.m.