AUBURN HILLS, Michigan, (Reuters) – LeBron James poured in 36 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers pounded the Detroit Pistons 99-78 yesterday to complete a sweep of their Eastern conference quarter-final.
Serenaded by chants of “MVP, MVP”, a fired up James underlined his case for league honours with another tour de force performance, adding 13 rebounds and eight assists as the Cavaliers became the first team through to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
After six consecutive trips to the Eastern conference finals, the Pistons’ playoff journey this season was an abbreviated one. They were overwhelmed by the Cavaliers, who won the four games by an average of 15.5 points to claim just their second ever sweep of a best-of-seven series.
Meanwhile, the surprising Dallas Mavericks and the highly touted Los Angeles Lakers both moved to within a win of clinching their first-round playoff series with Game Four victories on Saturday.
The sixth-seeded Mavericks withstood Tony Parker’s 43 points to beat the San Antonio Spurs 99-90, while the top-seeded Lakers overwhelmed the Utah Jazz 108-94 with Kobe Bryant scoring 38 points.
Both now lead their Western Conference series 3-1 and can advance to the second round with wins in their next game, the Lakers at home today and the Mavericks in San Antonio tomorrow.
“It was a collective effort,” Maverick Josh Howard told reporters after scoring 28 points to help rally Dallas from a first-half deficit against the Spurs.
Five Mavericks made double figures with Jason Kidd providing 17, Dirk Nowitzki contributing 12 points with 13 rebounds and Jason Terry and Erick Dampier adding an even 10 each.
Third-seeded San Antonio, meanwhile, relied on Parker’s career playoff best and 25 points and 10 rebounds from Tim Duncan. The remainder of the team scored just 22 points.
“I’m really pleased we won, because it was a gut-check the way they finished the first half,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters.
San Antonio went on a 7-0 run to lead 55-49 with 33 seconds left in the half. But Parker, who had 31 points at the intermission, scored only 12 in the second half and Duncan was limited to 10 for the final two quarters.
