NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers only needed one quarter to elbow their way back into the lead of their Eastern Conference semifinal with the Boston Celtics.

James scored 21 of his 38 points in the first quarter to help Cleveland beat Boston 124-95 on Friday night, handing the Celtics their worst home playoff loss ever and taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.

“It started with me tonight. Everyone else saw my aggression and took advantage of it,” James said. “I think rest helped me; rest helped all of us, and we were able to put together a complete game for the first time in these playoffs.”

Showing no ill-effects of an elbow problem that was the talk of Cleveland during the three-day layoff since a Game 2 loss at home, James finished with eight rebounds and seven assists. The 21 points in a quarter was a franchise postseason record.

“I know I’m going to hear a lot about the elbow, but I’m here to play basketball and give our team a chance to win,” James said. “We knew how important it was to come out and play aggressively after giving away Game 2.”

Antawn Jamison had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, while Shaquille O’Neal added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Rajon Rondo, who had 19 assists in Boston’s Game 2 victory on Monday, had 18 points and eight assists.

The Celtics missed 10 of their first 13 shots, hitting just 27 percent in the first quarter to spot Cleveland a 21-point lead. The Cavaliers shot 67 percent from the field in the first—and 59 percent for the game—and Boston was never able to recover. The Celtics’ previous worst home playoff loss was 97-70 to Indiana on May 7, 2005, in Game 7 of the first round.

“It was great to see LeBron set the tone from the jump,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “And the rest of the team followed.”

Game 4 is Sunday, and the Celtics need a victory to split their home games and assure themselves of another.

James wore a black sleeve on his right elbow, which became a concern after he shot a free throw left-handed in the closing minutes of Cleveland’s first-round playoff clincher against Chicago. But he went 8 of 10 from the field in the first quarter—most of them mid- to long-range jumpers—and after that it didn’t matter.

“I think he’s healthy,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who has been dismissive of James’ injury. “His elbow looked very good tonight. So enough with the elbow injury. I think we can go ahead and focus on basketball.”

James headed to the bench to rest his strained and bruised elbow with 5:41 left in the game. For 45 minutes afterward, he had it wrapped in ice.

“I had it going, we had it going,” he said, “and I wasn’t tired.”

The Celtics had high hopes for an upset of the top-seeded Cavaliers after taking Game 2 104-86 in Cleveland to swipe the home-court advantage. But Cleveland earned it back in Game 3, needing just one quarter to silence the Boston crowd that grew even more downcast when the Red Sox and Bruins also fell behind early—and then lost.

“There was no reason for me as a leader to be angry,” James said. “We played awful in Game 2, and I knew how important the next game was. I know how important the whole series is.”

The fans booed when Boston left the court at halftime down 65-43. And they cleared the building midway through the fourth, when Rivers pulled his starters and James headed to the bench to rest his strained and bruised right elbow.

“That was embarrassing. That’s embarrassing when you lose at home like that,” said Paul Pierce, who scored 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting and didn’t make his first basket until midway through the second quarter.

“We just let our guard down. … You’ve got to know the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to come in here with all the urgency in the world. They took the fight to us early, and we didn’t respond to it.”

James scored eight straight points to make it a 10-point lead midway through the first, and seven points during an 11-0 run that made it 36-15 with 19 seconds left in the quarter. Cleveland led by 24 points in the second quarter, 30 in the third, and never by less than 20 in the entire second half.

“He was playing H-O-R-S-E,” Rivers said. “We were awful. We just didn’t play with the same intensity they did. They played with a Game 7 mentality.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Phoenix Suns would be thrilled to finally beat the Spurs in the playoffs by any margin.



But a sweep? That would be especially sweet.

Phoenix is one win away from ending years of playoff misery against San Antonio, taking a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals with a 110-96 victory Friday night, putting the Spurs in a historically irreparable hole.

“I think it’s safe to say that may have been the best fourth-quarter performance I have ever seen in a playoff game,” Suns forward Grant Hill said.

He wasn’t talking about the team.

He was just talking about Goran Dragic.

The backup point guard scored 23 of his 26 points in a brilliant fourth quarter, rendering Steve Nash unneeded until the final 3 minutes. Amare Stoudemire? He never even took off his warmups in the fourth quarter.

Dragic hit nine of 11 shots in the fourth, including all four 3-point attempts.

After his last one with 5.7 seconds left, the Suns impatiently waited for the final seconds to tick away before swarming Dragic. The Spurs shuffled away in a 3-0 deficit—which no team in NBA history has ever come back from.

Stunned Spurs fans could still be overheard muttering “Goran Dragic? Goran Dragic?” long after most of the AT&T Center emptied. It was about that time that Suns coach Alvin Gentry, having finished his postgame news conference, walked back across the court.

Goran Dragic?

“He’s my secret weapon,” Gentry said while breezing past the scorer’s table, smiling wide. “I don’t know where he came from, either.”

Dragic said he’s been there all along. He was apparently disguised under the 7.9 points he averaged during the regular season, and his 5.6 scoring average in the playoffs entering Game 3.

“During halftime I was talking with Coach Gentry and he told me I have to be more aggressive and drive the lane,” said Dragic, playing in his first career postseason. “When I came back on the court I just did what he told me.”

The Spurs have put Phoenix through a decade of postseason misery, ousting the Suns from the playoffs four consecutive times since 2003. Another win finally ends all that.

Game 4 is Sunday night in San Antonio.

“Everything we tried, it was a bucket and it was demoralizing,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “We’re going to have to have a perfect game.”

Ginobili led the Spurs with 27 points while welcoming Tony Parker back to the starting lineup, but it was a move that didn’t work out as the Spurs planned.

Parker had come off the bench since returning from a broken right hand last month, and finally reclaimed his starting role from George Hill with the hopes of rescuing this series.

Hill had started 46 consecutive games since January but has struggled against Phoenix. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said it was just a matter of time until Parker—who had started every playoff game since 2002 for the Spurs before this postseason—would get his job back.

But it wasn’t exactly a triumphant return. Parker averaged 23 as a reserve in Games 1 and 2 but didn’t provide the same jolt while reclaiming his starting job. He scored 10 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

Parker got an X-ray on his shoulder after the game, but the results weren’t immediately known.

The Spurs blew a big lead for the second straight game. The Suns trailed 39-21 early in the second quarter while missing 13 of their first 21 shots, putting Phoenix in the biggest hole it faced thus far in the playoffs.

But like the other deficits, this one didn’t last.

“Definitely an opportunity wasted,” said Spurs forward Tim Duncan, who had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Dragic’s layup on the second Phoenix possession of the fourth quarter put the Suns ahead 73-72, their first lead of the game. Phoenix outscored San Antonio 39-24 in the fourth quarter and shot 71 percent from the field.

Jason Richardson had 21 points and Hill added 18 for the Suns.