Cavaliers clobber Celtics 107-76

By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer Apr 12, 8:33 pm EDT

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CLEVELAND (AP)—They dunked on the Boston Celtics. Then, they danced all over them.

In an unforgettable season like none they’ve had before, the Cleveland Cavaliers are celebrating each milestone and moment.

LeBron James made five 3-pointers and scored 29 points before swaying to the music in his seat, and the Cavaliers throttled the defending NBA champions 107-76 on Sunday to move within one win of matching the 1985-86 Celtics for the best home record in league history.

At 39-1, the Cavs can tie Boston’s hallowed mark against Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

But equaling those Celtics of Bird, McHale and Parrish won’t mean anything if the Cavs, who have already clinched the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed, can’t dethrone the current guys in green sometime this spring.

Flexing their defensive muscles, the Cavs led 31-9 after the first quarter, opened a 30-point lead in the second and turned a possible playoff preview into a rout. It was Cleveland’s most lopsided win ever in 173 games against the Celtics.

“I looked up at the scoreboard one time and they were shooting 15 percent from the floor,” James said. “That’s unbelievable.”

A message, LeBron?

“Haven’t we sent enough messages this year?” he said. “We know we’re a good team. It wasn’t a message. It was just about getting better.”

The Cavaliers, now the 14th team in league history to win 65 games, may have never looked this good.

They outclassed the Celtics, who were missing Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe and have nothing to play for but pride after locking up the East’s No. 2 seed.

With Cleveland leading by 26 after three, James was pulled by coach Mike Brown for some of the rest he’ll need before making a title run.

When the Cavs reserves pushed the lead to 30, James, Mo Williams and Delonte West boogied together during a timeout as Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” pumped through the arena. The trio wasn’t shy about things as they mugged for TV cameras to the roaring crowd’s delight.

At the other end of the floor, the Celtics sat stoically while watching the Cavs’ clown around.

“I’m always going to remember that,” Ray Allen said. “If I beat a team, as happy as I may be in victory, I’m always going to stay humble and always remember that there’s another day. We play each other too much. Those are great motivational thoughts for me.”

James insisted the Cavs weren’t being irreverent toward the league’s most storied franchise.

“We’re not trying to disrespect any team or show up any team,” he said. “We’re all professionals. If you take it as disrespectful, then you got to do something about it.”

Daniel Gibson scored 15 and Williams added 13 for Cleveland, which held the Celtics to a season-low in points on 36 percent shooting.

Paul Pierce scored 14 and Glen Davis 12 for the Celtics, who never led and weren’t thrilled to rehash the game afterward.

“Does anybody have a Masters update?” coach Doc Rivers quipped. “Let’s not talk about basketball.”

The Cavaliers have already clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, and with a win on Monday in Indianapolis, they can lock up home court in the finals—if they get that far.

They may have to get past the Celtics, who beat them in a seven-game semifinal series last year, and figure to be their stiffest competition again.

On this day, though, the Cavs were untouchable.

James made three 3-pointers in the third when he and the Cavs put to rest any thoughts of a big comeback. On his last 3, James spun a few feet from Rivers and hit his long fadeaway over Boston’s Tony Allen.

Home court has been vital in the budding Celtics-Cavaliers rivalry: The home team has won 15 consecutive games, including all seven in last year’s playoffs.

Tempers boiled in the third quarter when Cavs forward Anderson Varejao and Allen got tangled under the basket after a free throw.

Varejao flung Boston’s guard to the floor, and Allen responded with a well placed elbow into the forward’s groin area. Both players jawed at each other before getting technical fouls.

“It was a dirty play,” Allen said. “He locked my arm and threw me to the ground. I wasn’t going to allow him to think he could do whatever he wanted. I’m always going to stand up for myself. It’s one thing for a team to be beating us, but they’re not going to walk all over us.”

The frizzy-haired Varejao had his own take.

“You don’t hit a man in his (groin),” he said. “He doesn’t like Brazilians or he doesn’t like my hair.”

With its defense in full lock-you-down mode, Cleveland held the Celtics to 3-of-20 (15 percent) shooting in the first. Allen missed all six of his shots and Pierce was just 2-for-7, and the two buckets he made were with hands waving in his face.

James helped set the defensive tone by racing back to reject a layup by Allen, who never could have expected Cleveland’s star to close on him so quickly.

Although his club was down by 22 early in the second, Rivers was convinced the Celtics could come back.

“You play together, we’ll score,” he shouted. “Keep playing.”

Trouble was, the Cavs never stopped.

They built their lead to 49-19 with 4:23 left before halftime, before the defending champs used a 14-0 run to get within 16. James closed the half with a three-point play to make it 52-33 at the break.

Notes

Cavs C/F Ben Wallace bruised his left knee in the second quarter and did not return. Wallace, who recently returned from a broken right leg, will undergo an MRI on Monday. … Garnett, who has missed 20 of the last 24 games with a strained right knee, is scheduled to practice Monday in Philadelphia. Boston plays the 76ers on Tuesday and Rivers wants Garnett to play in a game before the playoffs. … The last time the Cavs held a team to 9 points or fewer in a quarter was in 1999.

Updated Apr 12, 8:33 pm EDT
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360 Comments

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  1. u u
    360. Posted by u u Thu Jul 16 3:52pm EDT

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    352 you are just an idiot "The teams to fear in the Playoffs are Portland, Miami, Orlando, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Utah." Alright lets tick some of these off right away, hmm no Rockets I do believe they were the only team to take LA to 7 and oh wait they 4-2d Portland. Detroit!?! 4-0'd by the "not so intimidating Cavs". Utah? 4-1d am i right? Wheres Chicago btw they gave Boston one hell of a run for their money. I agree with your Orlando and LA though heck I even thought Miami would be better but please Detroit and Portland? Over Houston and Dallas? bull@#$%.
  2. jazzing
    359. Posted by jazzing Thu Apr 23 2:40am EDT

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    All the years I played and watched any sport basketball,baseball,football or ANY sport for that matter when a man gets an elbow in the "JUNK" as someone put it they have quite a painful reaction. There was no reaction so I guess Varejao has no "JUNK". Ray is one of the best at hitting 3 so if he wanted to hit 2 he would have hit them dead center. If you don't win it this year Cav's just move somewhere else. Maybe it's just a losing town. I do hope you beat the Fakers if it's Fakers and Cavs in the finals. I just loved that answer LeBron had when asked who his 5 favorite players were when he was a kid he gave one of them as himself. Great answer LeBron ILMAO when I heard that...That had to be a first!!! MYSELF LoL LoL Go stand in front of the mirror and admire yourself. When your done please beat the @#$% out of Kobe and the Fakers if you play them in the Finals. MYSELF Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!
  3. jazzing
    358. Posted by jazzing Wed Apr 22 4:05pm EDT

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    jerrycolf-Great comment the Celtics would be a subpar team without K.G. Where the #$ck would the Cavs be without LeBron????? Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
  4. vc Jack
    357. Posted by vc Jack Tue Apr 14 11:59pm EDT

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    LA, LA, LA... Blagh, blagh, blagh. To all you west coast fans bashing the CAVS in the first round of the playoffs - Don't be shocked when the Jazz end the Lakers playoff run EARLY!!
  5. Kevin P
    356. Posted by Kevin P Mon Apr 13 10:48pm EDT

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    Hmm, I think Go Speed Racer is smoking some of that "first round fertilizer'
  6. Bad Brain Punk
    355. Posted by Bad Brain Punk Mon Apr 13 10:23pm EDT

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    LBJ is gonna be MVP, but Varejao is a clod and I wouldn’t even let him in the league if I had my say. He polished his much deserved reputation as a goon at the 2006 World Championships. Greece had Brazil down by 17, so ‘Andy’ put a cheap-shot intentional elbow into the Greek point guard’s face so badly it blew out the guy’s eye socket. He needed plates and screws to put his face back together. Varejao’s reason? He “didn’t show me respect.” Classy!
  7. Kevin P
    354. Posted by Kevin P Mon Apr 13 10:22pm EDT

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    To all the cavs haters, GET THAT WEAK STUFF OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!
  8. alex
    353. Posted by alex Mon Apr 13 8:29pm EDT

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    racer-x: you can act like you want when you are GOOD and have the best record in the NBA, dont forget he is not an old mutha effer and rapist like kobe bryant, good role model let me tell you
  9. Purple Yam and Magolover
    352. Posted by Purple Yam and Magolover Mon Apr 13 8:28pm EDT

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    The teams to fear in the Playoffs are Portland, Miami, Orlando, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Utah. The Cavs aren't that intimidating on the road and they should have gone undefeated at home. But they lost to L.A. on their home court ...even though Kobe Bryant was dehydrated with the flu and Andrew Bynum was on the injured list with a torn MCL. Nuff said!!!
  10. Kevin L
    351. Posted by Kevin L Mon Apr 13 8:16pm EDT

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    Please just stop giving damn excuses about KG being out and the Celtics are going to roll over every team in the East when he gets back. Basketball is a game about teamwork and how you play when a player is injured, you don't make stupid excuses, you play the game of basketball win or lose. If the Celtics are so "good" then KG wouldn't matter, if the Lakers were so good Kobe wouldn't matter, if the Cavs were so good, Lebron wouldn't matter to them because teams that are good, have good depth and a high scoring bench to go with it. I love the game of basketball for what it is and I respected Ray Allen, but after the cheap shot he gave, classless and then he complains. and the reason why the top 3 east teams are better than the west, look at the West. LOOK how close the race for the playoffs are, all those teams are good teams and are OVER .500, not teams like the Pistons who are below .500, get your stuff right, the West is way dominating then the East, the teams are so much better
  11. Racer-X
    350. Posted by Racer-X Mon Apr 13 8:09pm EDT

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    Good to see Bynum back to his paint dominance so quickly upon his return!

    Now, let's hope Farma gets his S#@t together otherwise Jackson should give more & more minutes to Shannon Brown.

    Go Lakers! WE WILL TAKE THE TITLE THIS TIME!
  12. Racer-X
    349. Posted by Racer-X Mon Apr 13 8:07pm EDT

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    alex: I am on the Lakers thread - nothing much to say about win against Memphis except that the win was by the Lakers 2nd unit mostly and the fact that Bynum is back to DOMINATE THE PAINT WITH GASOL SUCKA! 2 7 footers - one with power one with finesse! One thing I want to say about Lebron - I wanted to like him as I saw him as Celtic slayer. But I got to see his whole immaturity in the blowout handed by Magic. If you saw the game you recall? Dwight rejects Lebron's layup & lebron tries the same at the other end which resulted in goal tending by Cavs - good example of lebron's ego/immaturity. Nuff said.
  13. Purple Yam and Magolover
    348. Posted by Purple Yam and Magolover Mon Apr 13 8:06pm EDT

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    LeBron knows he can't win a championship in Cleveland. He said it at the beginning of the regular season and promised Knicks fans to wait for him in 2010. LeBron is a two-faced player. He hides the truth behind his smile when he say's he loves playing in Cleveland. He's all about endorsements. There are only 2 cities where he would love to play. One is in New York and the other is in New Jersey, where his best friend, Jay-Z, is a co-owner of the New Jersey Nets.
  14. alex
    347. Posted by alex Mon Apr 13 7:10pm EDT

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    lakers suck....... why you on his thread, go to a lakers or rapist thread
  15. Ilo2X bhoy
    346. Posted by Ilo2X bhoy Mon Apr 13 7:09pm EDT

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    LBJ-2-nix, can u just shut the h3ll up, u know that lebron wont leave cavs until he gets them a championship.
    GO CAVS, 2009 NBA FINALS CAHMPIONS!!!!!!!
  16. Racer-X
    345. Posted by Racer-X Mon Apr 13 7:08pm EDT

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    Reminder: Lakers have handed celtics AND the cavaliers streak breaking losses this reg season and won in their home courts.

    You actually think east's 1 & 2 seeds don't have the above record in their minds? As for the Cavs, their record against + .500 teams are DISMAL! Do any of you actually think Varajeo can play well against Bynum or Gasol for that matter? Haha. Lakers will dominate the paint!
  17. Purple Yam and Magolover
    344. Posted by Purple Yam and Magolover Mon Apr 13 6:51pm EDT

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    Why are you such a yanker hater mike??? diashguone
  18. alex
    343. Posted by alex Mon Apr 13 6:50pm EDT

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    Nix in 2010 don't be hating because bron lite the knicks up. You talk about ballhog, open your eyes stats dont lie. I bet you are one of those fans in the garden clapping and yelling for lebron at the game. If he is such a ballhog why would you want him on your team mr LBJ-2-nix-in-2010, KEEP DREAMING
  19. alex
    342. Posted by alex Mon Apr 13 6:42pm EDT

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    I am glad all of you cleveland haters come to check on cavs thread, your team must not post nothing for you to read.
  20. respect101
    341. Posted by respect101 Mon Apr 13 6:41pm EDT

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    blowin nix, like I said can't shut up
  21. Al
    340. Posted by Al Mon Apr 13 6:23pm EDT

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    Yeah the majority of those games were at the beginning of the season, but I also recall the most recent game Lebron sat out the ENTIRE fourth quarter was.... oh that's right.... SUNDAY against the CELTICS!!! And we still won by 31. And you're right the Celtics, Magic, and Lakers are all formidable teams, but let's not forget that even if the Celts and Magic both win in the first round... then they have to play each other. Realistically... the Cavs will end up playing Boston, and b/c Cle has home court -- sorry Boston but it doesn't look like a repeat of last year will happen. The only time the Celts beat the Cavs was on their own home court and vice versa. No doubt the Lakers are a tough team but not unbeatable... just ask Charlotte!
    ...............And that's MRS. Cleveland Fan to you!!!
  22. Purple Yam and Magolover
    339. Posted by Purple Yam and Magolover Mon Apr 13 6:06pm EDT

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    To Mr. mike the yankee hater.....ENOUGH SAID!!!
  23. Racer-X
    338. Posted by Racer-X Mon Apr 13 6:02pm EDT

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    I also agree w some of the other comments: 1) Lebron won MVP like 3-4wks ago - process is political & media's biased opinion is pounded into the public (think of Obama during primaries & general election). 2) Wade is having a great yr but his team has poor WL record compared to Cavs or Lakers. 3) Lebron's antics are getting old - he clowned with Dwight before the blowout game & look what happened - he got skooled - Celts got nobody like DHow.

    Lakers will be Champs - rest are chumps - no team as deep as the Lakers!
  24. Al
    337. Posted by Al Mon Apr 13 5:54pm EDT

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    Yeah the majority of those games were at the beginning of the season, but I also recall the most recent game Lebron sat out the ENTIRE fourth quarter was.... oh that's right.... SUNDAY against the CELTICS!!! And we still won by 31. And you're right the Celtics, Magic, and Lakers are all formidable teams, but let's not forget that even if the Celts and Magic both win in the first round... then they have to play each other. Realistically... the Cavs will end up playing Boston, and b/c Cle has home court -- sorry Boston but it doesn't look like a repeat of last year will happen. The only time the Celts beat the Cavs was on their own home court and vice versa. The Lakers are tough but not unbeatable... ask Charlotte.
    ................ And that's MRS. Cleveland fan to you!
  25. respect101
    336. Posted by respect101 Mon Apr 13 5:49pm EDT

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    Celts will set the record for a team going from the championship to the lottery. They mortgaged their future for a 2 year run it's over. The gamble paid off ,next tear you'll be lucky to beat the Knicks.
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