CLEVELAND (AP) — J.R. Smith reached out, placed his hands on Al Horford's back and shoved Boston's big man out of bounds.It was the only time Smith was on target.Smith's shoddy performance in Game 2 — he missed all seven shots and committed a flagrant 1 foul in 27 forgettable minutes — underscored a startling disparity between Cleveland's and Boston's starting backcourts that allowed the fearless Celtics to withstand a brilliant, 42-point effort by LeBron James and take a 2-0 series lead.Smith and point guard George Hill were outscored 41-3 by Boston's Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier, who were faster, hungrier and maybe tougher."I don't think tougher," Smith said afterward, showing better defensive instincts than during the game. "They made shots, we missed shots at the end of the day. We had some good looks, they didn't fall. For them playing on their home court, they fell. It's a matter for us to bounce back, go home, try and get (win) two, even the series up and come back here."Smith will... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — J.R. Smith reached out, placed his hands on Al Horford's back and shoved Boston's big man out of bounds.It was the only time Smith was on target.Smith's shoddy performance in Game 2 — he missed all seven shots and committed a flagrant foul in 27 forgettable minutes — underscored a startling disparity between Cleveland's and Boston's starting backcourts that allowed the fearless Celtics to withstand a brilliant, 42-point effort by LeBron James and take a 2-0 series lead.Smith and point guard George Hill were outscored 41-3 by Boston's Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier, who were faster, hungrier and maybe tougher."I don't think tougher," Smith said afterward, showing better defensive instincts than during the game. "They made shots, we missed shots at the end of the day. We had some good looks, they didn't fall. For them playing on their home court, they fell. It's a matter for us to bounce back, go home, try and get (win) two, even the series up and come back here."Thanks to... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Put Kevin Love's name atop the list of the Cavaliers that walked out of Cleveland's 25-point Eastern Conference finals Game 1 loss to Boston a little staggered, but with an unbowed head.The reason: He's got a teammate by the name of LeBron James that's had a way of responding after lopsided playoff defeats.Just ask the Indiana Pacers.The Pacers stunned the Cavs at home in their first-round opener, rolling to an 18-point victory. In Game 2, James was all but unstoppable as he replied with a 46-point, 12-rebound performance."I expect him to have a big response," Love said of James on Monday. "He's always done it. Even before he came back to Cleveland and since I've been here he's always responded big. .... He's going to approach this game as one that he's going to have to lead and bounce back."Even if James does have a big Game 2 Tuesday night in Boston, he'll need some help — and the Cavaliers know it.Love said he thought the Cavs were a "little soft" in the first half in Game... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The jerseys and venues will be the same, but so much has changed since the last time Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics met in the Eastern Conference finals.Kyrie Irving was dealt to Boston in a blockbuster offseason deal for Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder. But following a roster upheaval in February , the Cavs were left with only five players from last year's team that rolled past the Celtics 4-1 to earn a place in the NBA Finals.Irving will watch this year's rematch from the sideline after a pair of knee surgeries late in the regular season denied him an opportunity to play this postseason. It was the capstone of an injury-plagued year in Boston that also saw the seasons of Gordon Hayward and rookie Daniel Theis truncated.The one constant has been Cleveland's LeBron James, who at age 33 has again found another gear in the playoffs despite the different pieces surrounding him. His 34.3 scoring average in these playoffs is his highest since the 2009 postseason.James can... [More]

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — There haven't been any championship banners hoisted into Boston's hallowed rafters since 2008.LeBron James won't let go of the rope.Cleveland's star has bounced the Celtics from the playoffs four times in the past seven years, and James carries a six-game postseason winning streak at Boston into this year's Eastern Conference finals, which open Sunday at TD Garden.As a member of both the Miami Heat and Cavaliers, James — whose success against Boston did a 180-degree turn with a mesmerizing Game 6 performance in 2012 — has made the Celtics green(er) with envy.But while the 33-year-old has the utmost respect for the NBA's most decorated franchise, James' admiration hasn't stopped him from standing in the way of Boston stuffing more Larry O'Brien trophies into its crowded case.And if he beats the Celtics again and advances to his eighth straight NBA Finals, James would join a club currently exclusive to Boston players with legendary status.Only Bill Russell (10),... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Rodney Hood's playoff problems now extend to off the court.Hood, who has seen his role reduced during his first postseason with Cleveland, will not be fined or suspended for refusing to enter Monday night's Game 4 blowout win over the Toronto Raptors in the fourth quarter, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.Hood feels bad about the incident that happened with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter, and he expressed remorse on Tuesday to team officials about becoming a distraction, said the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.The person said disciplinary actions against Hood "were never a consideration."The Athletic first reported that Hood had angered teammates and others in the organization by rejecting coach Tyronn Lue's instruction to enter the game.With Cleveland leading 110-80 and on its way to sweeping the series, the Cavs called timeout to replace superstar LeBron James. Lue told Hood... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Their doubters are dropping off as quickly as the competition.Only one team has advanced to the conference finals in these NBA playoffs, and it's the same squad that looked vulnerable during a chaotic regular season, beatable in the postseason and was one loss from a possible franchise collapse.The ending's been postponed. The Cleveland Cavaliers aren't nearly finished.On Monday night, the Cavs completed their second straight four-game sweep of the Toronto Raptors, the East's top team and the one that was supposedly built to dethrone them, with a 128-93 win in Game 4 that has perhaps changed Cleveland's outlook.LeBron James, whose future hangs over this city like a looming thunderstorm, scored 29 points with 11 assists and eight rebounds on 12 of 19 shooting — an ordinary performance by his standards — as the Cavs won their 10th straight over the Raptors with one of their most complete games in months.After all the injuries, the failed Isaiah Thomas experiment, the roster... [More]

The "Death Lineup" breathed new life into the Golden State Warriors.It was yet another reminder: In the NBA playoffs, where even a brief downward slide can be enough to end a season, even the best teams won't hesitate when they feel a need to shake up their starting lineups.Desperate times in the first round sent Cleveland to desperate lineup measures. Toronto, the team that finished with the NBA's second-best regular season record, sought a spark by changing its starting five against the Cavs for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Utah showed Houston a new look Sunday in Game 4 of their West semifinal matchup, and while the Jazz slowed the high-powered Rockets at times they still fell into a 3-1 series deficit.And then there's the Warriors, who were coming off a big loss in Game 3 against New Orleans so they put their five best players — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green — on the floor Sunday to start a game for the first time all season.... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James breaks hearts, shatters dreams and delivers joy all in one breath. He carries one city, crushes the other.With mind-blowing ease, James can take over a quarter, a game, a series, a season and make it his own. His terms.After being criticized earlier in his career — it seems laughable now — for not being clutch or taking the big shot, James has become the NBA's pre-eminent closer, the player best equipped to handle pressure and produce excellence when everything is on the line.Crunch time? He's captain crunch. Tom Brady in the two-minute drill. Muhammad Ali in the 15th round. Mariano Rivera in the ninth. The fat lady.It's over when James says so.James added to his growing legacy for breathtaking finishes on Saturday night by banking in a shot high off the backboard at the buzzer to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 105-103 win in Game 3 of their semifinal series against the Toronto Raptors, who had the closest view of a moment that all but ended their season.Dribbling... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Raptors seem to have everything lined up in their favor heading into their postseason matchup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.They're rested. The Raptors feel they are ready. They have home-court advantage.But they've been confident before heading into a playoff showdown with James and have come up short — twice."Gotta go through the best to get to that trophy," All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan said. "Every step of the way we're going to come across somebody."The Raptors open their second-round playoff series at home to James and the Cavs on Tuesday night. Cleveland has eliminated Toronto in two straight postseasons, including the 2016 conference finals and a second-round sweep last year.This time, however, Toronto is the top-seeded team in the East after a team-record 59-win season. The Raptors have been off since a Game 6 victory over Washington last Friday night finished their first-round series, while James and the Cavs were pushed to the limit... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors seem to have everything lined up in their favor heading into their postseason matchup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.They're rested. The Raptors feel they are ready. They have home court advantage.But they've been confident before heading into a playoff showdown with James and have come up short — twice."Gotta go through the best to get to that trophy," All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan said. "Every step of the way we're going to come across somebody."The Raptors open their second round playoff series at home to James and the Cavs on Tuesday night. Cleveland has eliminated Toronto in two straight postseasons, including the 2016 conference finals and a second-round sweep last year.This time, however, Toronto is the top-seeded team in the East after a team-record 59-win season. The Raptors have been off since a Game 6 victory over Washington last Friday night finished their first round series, while James and the Cavs were pushed to... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James walked sluggishly down a corridor inside Quicken Loans Arena following Game 7 surrounded by the usual squadron of security personnel, some business associates and his publicist.Each step seemed a challenge. His eyes were heavy. He ached from head to toe. He wanted to lie down.James was moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs — almost on his hands and knees."I don't think he's appreciated enough for just how much energy he puts into every single game to do what he does," Cavaliers forward Kyle Korver said of James. "It's just unbelievable."Pushed to his physical limits by the Indiana Pacers, and barely helped by Cleveland teammates until they finally showed up when it mattered most Sunday in a 105-101 win, James willed the Cavs into the next round, where they'll face the top-seeded Toronto Raptors for the third straight postseason.If the Indiana series was any indication, James might have to do it again.James scored 45 points — his third game over... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James walked sluggishly down a corridor inside Quicken Loans Arena following Game 7 surrounded by the usual squadron of security personnel, some business associates and his publicist.Each step seemed a challenge. His eyes were heavy. He ached from head to toe. He wanted to lie down.James was moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs — almost on his hands and knees."I don't think he's appreciated enough for just how much energy he puts into every single game to do what he does," Cavaliers forward Kyle Korver said of James. "It's just unbelievable."Pushed to his physical limits by the Indiana Pacers, and barely helped by Cleveland teammates until they finally showed up when it mattered most Sunday in a 105-101 win, James willed the Cavs into the next round, where they'll face the top-seeded Toronto Raptors for the third straight postseason.If the Indiana series was any indication, James might have to do it again.James scored 45 points — his third game over... [More]

LeBron James saved a game. Russell Westbrook and Paul George saved a season.And now, Game 6 awaits them all.A trio of possible series-ending games are on Friday night's NBA playoff schedule: Cleveland at Indiana, Toronto at Washington and Oklahoma City at Utah. For the Cavaliers and Raptors, the scenario is they advance with a road win or head back home for Game 7 on Sunday. The Thunder don't have such a safety net; they must win in Salt Lake City, or it'll be the Jazz going to the second round.James went from goaltending to game-winning in a matter of seconds in Game 5 on Wednesday night, his straightaway 3-pointer at the buzzer giving Cleveland a three-point win and a 3-2 series lead. Westbrook and George looked well on their way to summer vacation in their Game 5 matchup with the Jazz , before they combined for 54 points in a 61-28 Oklahoma City run that rallied the Thunder from a 25-point second-half deficit.The stars carried the Cavs and Thunder.The Raptors, they have a 3-2 lead thanks... [More]

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — By now, LeBron James is usually getting some rest in the NBA playoffs.The Pacers are making him work much harder than he has in years.After splitting the first four games, Indiana and Cleveland will meet on Wednesday night in the critical Game 5 of a first-round series that has been unpredictable, uneven and for James, unusual.This first round hasn't been the norm for the three-time champion.While he's 12-0 in the opening round, before the Cavs dropped Game 1 to the Pacers at home, James had never lost a playoff opener. In fact, James came in with a 21-game winning streak in first-round games and this will be his first Game 5 in Round 1 since 2012 when he was with Miami.The Cavs and Pacers aren't the only ones in a tussle in the Eastern Conference as Washington and Toronto resume their series in Canada tied 2-2. Things aren't quite as tight In the West as Utah holds a 3-1 lead over a fraying Oklahoma City team, and Houston, which dropped 50 points in one quarter... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has tweaked his starting lineup for Game 2 against Indiana.Lue will start forwards J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver over Jeff Green and Rodney Hood as the Cavs try to even their Eastern Conference series on Wednesday night.Green went 0 for 7 from the field and missed his three free throws in the opener. Hood scored nine points, but he was excused from shootaround Wednesday as his wife gave birth to twins.Lue had wanted to start Korver in Game 1, but the elite shooter has been slowed by a sore right foot.The Cavaliers started slowly in the opener and were beaten 98-80 by the Pacers, who snapped Cleveland's 14-game winning streak in first-round games and a 21-game winning streak by LeBron James in playoff-opening series.Lue has spent the entire season shuffling lineups due to injuries and three trades at the Feb. 8 deadline.___More NBA basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Paul George has found his shot.Actually, the Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star has been on a roll heading into the playoffs.In the five regular season games in April, he averaged 27.6 points and made 41 percent of his 3-pointers and 90 percent of his free throws. He closed the regular season with a 40-point outburst against Memphis.He kept it up in OKC's playoff opener, scoring 36 points and setting a Thunder playoff record with eight 3-pointers as Oklahoma City beat Utah 116-108 .It took George a minute to consistently take the scoring pressure off Russell Westbrook. He struggled on offense right after the All-Star break and said he couldn't find his shot."To his credit, when he was going through a little bit of that slump where he wasn't shooting the ball particularly well, he really put extra work in," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "I felt like he was really driven and focused to work his way through it."A couple of former OKC standouts are also thriving early in... [More]

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — Kyle Korver is getting daily treatment on his bruised right foot and taking medication to fight off a "nasty little bug" that has made its way through Cleveland's roster.Only time can heal his broken heart.As he begins chasing a championship, Korver is wrestling with the recent death of his younger brother, Kirk, who died at 27 from complications following a sudden illness.Following Tuesday's practice, Korver paused several times while discussing a "very complicated month" that has changed his life and split him in two. He's walking an emotional balance beam."You come back from dealing with death and the family and you hold that in one hand and you hold the playoffs here in another hand and it's interesting to kind of balance both of those at the same time and try to get yourself ready to play basketball," he said. "And, I've been hurt. I feel like it's been a very complicated month in my mind, but I feel like I'm in a good spot right now and I'm ready to play."Korver... [More]

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — With the playoffs just days away, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue typically would have his lineup rotations set by now.Nothing has been typical about this season for the Cavs.Lue said Thursday that he plans to use a 10-player rotation for Cleveland's opening-round series against the Indiana Pacers, but that things could change depending on injuries, matchups and performances."I will play 10," Lue said after the Cavaliers watched film on the Pacers, who went 3-1 against Cleveland this season. "We'll just see how it looks and if one guy is not great this round, then it might be nine."Lue and his staff have been juggling lineups and using different combinations on the floor for months, forced to adjust and re-adjust, first because of injuries and then by a slew of trades that transformed the team.Lue refused to name his full starting lineup for Sunday's Game 1. He revealed previously that four of them will be LeBron James, Kevin Love, Jeff Green and George Hill.... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tyronn Lue is rejoining the Cavaliers' disjointed season.Cleveland's coach is expected to return from a medical absence and be back on the bench Thursday night against Washington, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday.Lue, who has been away from the team since March 19 so he could focus on his health, has been cleared to resume his duties, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.Lue had been experiencing chest pains, insomnia and other symptoms when he agreed to take a leave of absence from the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. Lue's illness is among several setbacks this season for the Cavs, who have encountered numerous injuries and revamped their roster with three trades in February.The 40-year-old Lue is coming back with four games left in the regular season and the Cavs clinging to the No. 3 seed in the postseason. After hosting the Wizards, the Cavs will... [More]