NBA wRap: LeBron carries Cavaliers past Celtics

LOS ANGELES, USA – Four-time MVP LeBron James shine’s the brightest in today’s set of NBA playoff games.

Cleveland Cavaliers 99 – 91 Boston Celtics

LeBron James tallied 30 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics, 99-91, Tuesday, April 21 (Wednesday in Manila) to seize a 2-0 lead in their first round playoff series. 

James committed 6 of Cleveland’s 18 turnovers but came through down the stretch.

“I’ve been in this moment before and a lot of our guys haven’t,” said James, who also passed Jerry West for seventh on the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring list.

“I felt like it was important for me to put a staple on the game the best way I know how and that’s to be aggressive. It’s very important for me to be there for my team when needed.” 

Kyrie Irving followed up his 30-point playoff debut in game one with 26 points for the Cavaliers, while Timofey Mozgov and Kevin Love chipped in 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Isaiah Thomas once again led the Celtics with 22 points. But it wasn’t enough for the underdogs to grab homecourt advantage in the series. They will host game 3 on Thursday.

Boston didn’t get the victory but they did give the Cavs a scare. They led in the last minute of the opening half and were within 4 points with just over 3 minutes to go.

“We made those guys earn everything they got,” said Boston coach Brad Stevens. “I think that is a step in the right direction.”

Boston led at the end of one quarter 26-25 and used a 12-2 run in the middle of the second quarter to take its largest lead at 45-36.

Again the Cavs had an answer, scoring 15 of the final 19 points in the half to take a 51-50 lead into the break.

They looked as if they were going to pull away with a quick 10-0 run in the third quarter, highlighted by a pair of alley-oop tosses that were finished off by Love…

and James.

The Celtics pulled within two, 79-77, when Thomas converted a three-point play with 9:17 remaining in regulation.

From there, James scored 11 of his game-high total.

Washington Wizards 117 -106 Toronto Raptors

In Toronto, John Wall scored 26 points as the Washington Wizards surprised the Toronto Raptors 117-106 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-7 series.

Bradley Beal scored a playoff career-high 28 points and Marcin Gortat added 16 and 8 rebounds for the Wizards.

The Wizards finished the regular season 17-24 on the road, but the postseason is their time to shine. With this victory, they improved to 7-1 in their last eight playoff games on the road.

DeMar DeRozan and Lou Williams, who was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year on Monday, paced Toronto with 20 points apiece.

Houston Rockets 111 – 99 Dallas Mavericks

The Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 111-99 to take a 2-0 series lead in the only Western Conference playoff game. 

In Houston, Josh Smith tallied 13 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds in the second half to lead the Rockets over the Mavericks. Smith had just two points in the first half.

Josh Smith had 9 assists for @HoustonRockets (7 in 4th quarter alone) tying his playoff career-high from 4/20/10. pic.twitter.com/3lvYPmu0pn

— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) April 22, 2015

Smith proved he was a worthy pickup as he connected with Dwight Howard in multiple alley-oop plays:

Howard led the way or the Rockets with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks while MVP candidate James Harden finished with 24 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.

Mavericks point guard Rajon Rondo, acquired in a mid-season trade, started the game but played for only 9 minutes and 55.

Rick Carlisle on Rajon Rondo: “I liked the way the other guys were playing, so I elected not to put him back in.” pic.twitter.com/IY21g7SstG

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 22, 2015

Clearly, the point guard was not too happy about it.

Mavericks’ Rajon Rondo bails on media after Game 2 benching pic.twitter.com/XDxKpUEixz

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 22, 2015

Budenholzer named NBA’s coach of the year

Mike Budenholzer, who led the Atlanta Hawks to a franchise-record 60 wins this season, has been named the NBA’s coach of the year.

Budenholzer received 67 first-place votes and a total of 513 points from a nationwide panel of sportswriters to beat out Golden State’s Steve Kerr for the award.

Atlanta won the Southeast Division and earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Hawks had a 19-game winning streak during the season, including a perfect 17-0 record in the month of January, which helped a team-record four Hawks make the all-star game. – Rappler.com