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Boston • LeBron James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA's all-time playoff scoring leader as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 135-102 on Thursday night to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title and a return trip to the NBA Finals.
Kyrie Irving added 24 points and Kevin Love finished with 15 for the Cavs, who never trailed and led by as many as 39 points in one of their most dominating wins of the series. The Cavs set an NBA record by winning their 13th consecutive series closeout opportunity.
Cleveland's 4-1 series win gives it a 12-1 record this postseason and sets up a third consecutive matchup with Western Conference champion Golden State, the team it beat in the finals last season to claim the franchise's first championship.
It will mark the seventh straight trip to the finals for James.
"This team is a crazy team. They just stayed resilient all year, got to the playoffs, and we really stepped our game up," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. "Now we can start focusing on Golden State to get ready. As of tonight, I'll get started."
Avery Bradley led Boston with 23 points.
The Cavaliers basically conceded the East's top seed to the Celtics at the end of the regular season by opting to rest their starters in advance of the playoffs. But they displayed their superiority over the final two games to wrap up the series.
After allowing the Celtics to seize the early momentum in Game 4, the Cavs barely gave them the chance in Game 5.
Led by its Big Three, Cleveland quickly built a 21-point lead in the first quarter, while getting lots of contributions from their teammates.
Love continued to knock down shots from the outside, Irving sliced his way into the lane to the rim and James got free for several of his one-handed, tomahawk dunks.
It was a very welcomed sight in Irving's case, after he rolled his left ankle in the third quarter of Cleveland's Game 4 win. He showed no signs of lingering issues, though, beating several defenders off the dribble and handing out seven assists.
Meanwhile, J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver all helped spread out Boston's defenders by connecting on several wide-open scoring opportunities.
Deron Williams, who had been quiet for most of the series, also got in on the act with a series-best 14 points for Cleveland.
The Celtics did their best to keep up, but the consistent outside shooting, bench scoring and defense they relied on to stun Cleveland in Game 3 wasn't there Thursday night.
"I thought we played a little too haphazard tonight," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "Our offensive mistakes led to bad defense, and it just kind of snowballed on us."
He said though he's disappointed with how the season ended, he's encouraged that no one in Boston's locker room is satisfied just making it to the conference finals.
"I told our guys: 'We made a lot of great strides, but this pain is part of the path to what we ultimately want to be,' " he said.
The 43 points Cleveland scored in the first quarter set a team postseason record for points in a quarter.
Celtics injured point guard Isaiah Thomas led his teammates in a pregame huddle before they took the court for warmups. Thomas sat out the rest of the series after aggravating a hip injury in Game 2. —
NBA playoffs
Best-of-7; x-if necessary
Eastern Conference finals
Cleveland 4, Boston 1
Game 1: Cleveland 117, Boston 104
Game 2: Cleveland 130, Boston 86
Game 3: Boston 111, Cleveland 108
Game 4: Cleveland 112, Boston 99
Game 5: Cleveland 135, Boston 102
NBA FINALS
Golden State vs. Cleveland
June 1: at Golden State, 7 p.m.
June 4: at Golden State, 6 p.m.
June 7: at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
June 9: at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
x-June 12: at Golden State, 7 p.m.
x-June 15: at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
x-June 18: at Golden State, 6 p.m. —
Cavaliers 132, Celtics 102
Cleveland 43 32 34 26 — 135 Boston 27 30 17 28 — 102
CLEVELAND (135)
James 13-18 5-8 35, Love 5-13 2-2 15, Thompson 1-3 4-4 6, Irving 9-15 2-2 24, Smith 2-4 1-2 6, Jefferson 3-5 2-2 9, Derr.Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Frye 2-6 0-0 6, Dero.Williams 5-6 2-2 14, Shumpert 2-3 0-0 4, D.Jones 2-4 1-1 5, Korver 2-4 1-1 7, J.Jones 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 48-85 20-24 135.
BOSTON (102)
Crowder 3-8 5-7 11, Horford 4-8 0-0 8, Olynyk 2-8 2-2 7, Smart 2-7 0-0 6, Bradley 10-20 1-1 23, Green 4-8 3-3 14, Brown 2-3 3-5 7, Mickey 1-2 0-0 2, Jerebko 1-2 0-0 3, Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, Zeller 2-3 0-0 4, Rozier 4-13 2-3 10, Young 2-4 0-0 6. Totals 37-86 17-23 102.
3-Point Goals—Cleveland 19-41 (James 4-7, Irving 4-8, Love 3-7, Dero.Williams 2-3, Korver 2-4, Frye 2-5, Jefferson 1-3, Smith 1-3, J.Jones 0-1), Boston 11-30 (Green 3-6, Young 2-4, Bradley 2-5, Smart 2-5, Jerebko 1-2, Olynyk 1-2, Crowder 0-1, Rozier 0-5). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Cleveland 38 (Love 11), Boston 39 (Crowder 6). Assists—Cleveland 24 (James 8), Boston 20 (Rozier 7). Total Fouls—Cleveland 21, Boston 23. Technicals—Cleveland defensive three second, Cleveland team, Boston defensive three second, Boston team, Green. A—18,624 (18,624).