Sat May 10 23:25:35 2008

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James, West lead Cavs to impressive Game 3 win over Boston

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Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - LeBron James and Delonte West each scored 21 points, as the Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the Boston Celtics, 108-84, in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.

James was shut down in the first two games of the series, shooting just 8- of-42 from the field, but rebounded to shoot 3-of-5 from three-point range and 5-of-16 overall. The Cavaliers trimmed the Celtics' lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1, and can even the matchup in Game 4, set for Monday back in Cleveland.

James added eight assists, while West finished 7-for-11 from the field overall -- 4-of-6 from beyond the arc -- and handed out seven assists. Zydrunas Ilgauskas finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Joe Smith added 17 points off the bench.

Kevin Garnett had 17 points and nine boards for Boston, which came out slow and could never catch up. The Celtics have yet to lose a home playoff game, but also have yet to win one on the road, going 0-4.

Paul Pierce added 14 points, and Kendrick Perkins had 12 points and seven boards.

Boston took a 4-0 lead on a jumper from Garnett and a Perkins layup, but the game quickly slipped away from the Celtics. Cleveland countered with the next 14 points, highlighted by a pair of Ben Wallace buckets. Wallace had to leave Game 2 with dizziness and was diagnosed with an inner ear infection, but started and had nine points to go with a team-high nine rebounds.

From that point, the Cavaliers held a double-digit lead for most of the first quarter, and Boston became frustrated. Coach Doc Rivers was whistled for a technical with 3:42 left in the stanza after Garnett was called for an offensive foul, simply by running down the court and accidentally running over West.

Cleveland continued to pull away, and Ilgauskas drove in and dunked to extend his team's lead to 22-8. The emphatic bucket was part of an overall nine-point burst that James capped with a three to boost the Cavs' lead to 27-8 with just under two minutes left in the quarter.

Pierce finally brought Boston into double digits with a three, but the Celtics went into the second quarter behind, 32-13.

Boston's struggles continued a little under three minutes into that stanza, when James Posey was whistled for a flagrant -- type 1 -- foul, after trying to slow down James on a drive. But instead of grabbing the ball, Posey's arms wrapped around the side of James' neck, and the Cavs star fell to the floor.

A double technical was called on Anderson Varejao after the foul, though James made both free throws, and Wally Szczerbiak followed it up with a jumper to push Cleveland's lead to 43-17 with 8:53 left, prompting Rivers to call a timeout.

Boston scored the next 10 points, and a Posey three cut Cleveland's lead to under 43-27, with six minutes remaining. But the Cavaliers, who shot above 60 percent for most of the half, still went into intermission with a large advantage, at 52-35.

Cleveland maintained its advantage through the third quarter, and went into the fourth ahead 79-63.

A Garnett layup got the Celtics within 15, at 93-78, with 5:07 remaining in the game. But Smith and James each sank a pair of free throws to push the Cavs' lead back to 19, and they cruised to the finish from there.

Game Notes

Szczerbiak finished with 16 points...The Cavaliers shot 53.6 percent overall, and 10-of-19 from three-point range; Boston was just 40.5 percent from the floor, and 5-for-16 from long distance...James added three blocks...Posey had 11 points for the Celtics, while Ray Allen finished with 10, missing all five of his three-point attempts.