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Cavaliers down Celtics, keep hopes alive
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-20 13:45
The Cavaliers still have a playoff pulse. LeBron James and Robert Traylor
made sure their team would play at least one more meaningful game, leading
Cleveland past the Boston Celtics 100-86 Tuesday night.
Cleveland
Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) has the basketball knocked away by Boston
Celtics' Kendrick Perkins (43) in the second quarter Tuesday, April 19,
2005, in Cleveland. [AP] | James had 32 points,
eight rebounds and six assists, while Traylor came off the bench to score a
career-high 22 points and Eric Snow added a season-high 13 assists for the Cavs
(41-40), who remained tied with New Jersey for the eighth and final playoff in
the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland closed its final home game with a 10-0 run to put away the Celtics,
who did not use their best players in the fourth.
The Cavaliers, whose first playoff appearance since 1998 seemed a certainty
before a stunning second-half collapse, need to win at Toronto in their season
finale Wednesday night and hope the Celtics can bounce back at home and beat the
Nets.
New Jersey, which defeated Washington 109-101 Tuesday night, holds the
tiebreaker over Cleveland.
The Cavs had better hope Boston coach Doc Rivers plays his stars against New
Jersey. Rivers rested Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce for the entire fourth
quarter. Still, the Celtics were within 90-86 with 3:46 left.
That's when Traylor got whistled for a technical foul following a loose-ball
scramble in which he climbed over and allegedly kicked Justin Reed. Traylor
vented by kicking a hole in the scorer's table.
Ricky Davis missed the foul shot, and after a steal by James, Snow scored on
a layup to make it 92-86. Traylor then scored on a jumper, dunked a miss by Snow
and hit two free throws to put Cleveland ahead 98-86. James' dunk with 29
seconds left sealed it, and the Cavaliers embraced on the floor before lining up
to give away their game jerseys and sneakers on Fan Appreciation Night.
Walker finished with 22 points and Davis had 15 for the Celtics, who clinched
their first Atlantic Division title in 13 years on Sunday. Pierce had just five
points on 2-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes.
Fittingly, the home finale in this tumultuous season for Cleveland included a
little controversy surrounding Jeff McInnis. The point guard, who inexplicably
went from starter to benchwarmer in March, remained in the locker room after
halftime.
When he finally returned with 6:09 left in the third quarter, McInnis chose
not to join the huddle during timeouts, staying in his chair with a towel
wrapped around his head. He went back to the locker room for the fourth quarter.
A team spokesman said he had food poisoning.
From the outset, James looked determined to put Cleveland's fate in his
hands. He dunked four seconds after the opening tip, and by halftime had amassed
24 points, six rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.
Unable to count on getting much help from his teammates recently, James got a
ton of it in the second quarter from the 290-pound Traylor. The big man scored
12 points, added six rebounds and energized the Cavaliers, who took a 58-47 lead
at the break.
James' second rebound gave him 1,000 in two seasons, making him the youngest
player in league history to record 3,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000
assists. He also became the second fastest to reach the milestones, getting
there in his 158th career game. Oscar Robertson did it in 115.
With C Zydrunas Ilgauskas possibly on his way out as a free agent, James, who
has openly campaigned to get the Cavs to re-sign the All-Star center, said he
wouldn't again without the Lithuanian's blessing. "I have to talk to him first,"
James said. "It's not about LeBron and management, it's whether or not he
(Ilgauskas) wants to come back." ... Although his team has nothing at stake,
Rivers promised before the game he would to play everyone the next two nights.
"Whatever I do tonight, I'll do tomorrow (against New Jersey)," he said. ...
Cleveland finished 29-12 at home after going 23-18 at the Gund a year ago.
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