Boston -
With 35 points from LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics 87-79 last Sunday to advance to the NBA Finals.
The Cavaliers, who won the series 4-3 and became the champions of the Eastern Conference, await the winner of the Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets.
It had been six years since LeBron entered the TD Garden arena and led the then Miami Heat to avoid elimination against the Celtics. However, after scoring 46 points in another crucial game for the Cavaliers in Cleveland last Friday in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron once again showed his relevance to reach his eighth consecutive NBA Finals.
Jeff Green supported LeBron with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and J.R. Smith contributed 12 points.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum stood out with 24 points, Al Horford from the Dominican Republic with 17 points, and Marcus Morris with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
LeBron assumed his role as a superstar from the beginning and in the first quarter, when they went into the small break down 18-26, he had already scored 12 of his points.
The Celtics started the second quarter with a 9-5 offensive run to increase their lead to 35-23, thanks to 12 points from Dominican player Horford.
However, LeBron again with two free throws and a basket, as well as Smith's three-pointer and Tristan Thompson's baskets, the Cavaliers closed the gap to 39-37 with two minutes left until halftime.
Finally, the Celtics went into halftime with a 43-39 advantage.
An assist from LeBron to Thompson, who made the score 55-53, and a crucial basket from Green increased the Cavaliers' lead to 56-53.
From then on, the Cavaliers maintained a narrow lead on the scoreboard until the final minutes, which increased to 10 points. The Celtics had never lost a series they had led 2-0.
Cleveland has played 7 Game 7s in postseason history, with a record of 5-2, including the 2016 NBA Finals against the Warriors.
Meanwhile, Boston has a 23-9 all-time record in Game 7s in the postseason. (D)