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Cavaliers take early lead with rout of Celtics

The Associated Press

BOSTON — LeBron James embarrassed every defender thrown at him and the Cleveland Cavaliers picked up where they left off.

James had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and the Cavs rolled to a 117-104 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday in the opening game of the Eastern Conference finals.

Cleveland, which was coming off a 10-day break, improved to 9-0 in this year’s playoffs.

The Cavs’ Kevin Love set a playoff career high with 32 points, and had 12 rebounds. Tristan Thompson added 20 points and nine rebounds.

“It was our two bigs that set the tone — Kev and Double-T, they were phenomenal,” James said. “I saw it in Kev this morning. I knew what type of game he was going to have. So he came through for us.”

Game 2 is Friday in Boston.

The Celtics’ Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley each scored 21 points, and Isaiah Thomas had 17.

Boston missed 11 of its first 14 shots from the field, and went 2-for-16 from 3-point range in the first half.

“They were the better team tonight. They hit us first. They were more physical,” Thomas said. “We can’t let that happen again.”

CLEVELAND (117)

James 14-24 9-11 38, Love 9-16 8-9 32, Thompson 7-7 6-10 20, Irving 4-11 3-3 11, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Jefferson 0-0 0-0 0, Frye 1-3 0-0 3, Derr.Williams 1-1 0-0 3, Dero.Williams 0-5 2-2 2, Korver 1-6 0-0 3, D.Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Shumpert 1-6 0-0 3, J.Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-81 28-35 117.

BOSTON (104)

Crowder 8-13 1-2 21, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Horford 4-11 2-2 11, Thomas 7-19 1-3 17, Bradley 8-16 3-4 21, Green 4-6 0-0 11, Brown 5-7 0-2 10, Zeller 1-1 1-2 3, Olynyk 1-6 0-0 2, Smart 2-5 2-3 6, Rozier 1-2 0-0 2, Young 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 41-88 10-18 104.

Cleveland 30 31 31 25 — 117

Boston 19 20 36 29 — 104

3-Point Goals–Cleveland 11-30 (Love 6-9, Derr.Williams 1-1, Shumpert 1-2, Frye 1-2, James 1-5, Korver 1-6, Dero.Williams 0-1, Smith 0-1, Irving 0-3), Boston 12-38 (Crowder 4-6, Green 3-5, Thomas 2-7, Bradley 2-8, Horford 1-3, Rozier 0-1, Brown 0-1, Young 0-2, Olynyk 0-2, Smart 0-3). Fouled Out–Smart. Rebounds–Cleveland 44 (Love 12), Boston 40 (Brown 9). Assists–Cleveland 21 (James 7), Boston 33 (Thomas 10). Total Fouls–Cleveland 17, Boston 26. Technicals–Boston defensive three second, Boston team. A–18,624 (18,624).

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