Bulls, Warriors, Cavs near sweep
LOS ANGELES—LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers moved to within one win of advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 103-95 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
James finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds for the second seeded Cavaliers, who took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series. No NBA team has ever lost a series after winning the first three contests.
“I just try to do a little bit of everything,” James said. “Whatever it takes for my team to win. I want to be part of it.”
In the other East game Thursday, Derrick Rose scored a season-high 34 points with eight assists and five rebounds and help the Chicago Bulls take a 3-0 lead with a 113-106 doubleovertime win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Golden State Warriors also took a 3-0 series lead as they overcame a 20 point fourth- quarter deficit to beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 123-119, in overtime.
Kevin Love, who is playing in his first career post-season, had his best game of the series so far for Cleveland.
Love tallied 23 points and nine rebounds and hit a couple of key three pointers late in the contest. He made a half a dozen threepointers, including two in the final two and a half minutes, as the Celtics attempted to claw their way back into the game.
Love had 12 points in the first half after scoring 13 in Game 2, which the Cavs won, 9991, on Tuesday.
“Kevin has been great overall,” said Cleveland coach David Blatt.
The Cavaliers can close out the series against the seventh-seeded Celtics with another win on Sunday in Boston. The winner advances against either the Bulls or the Bucks.