CLEVELAND • Imagine being down by 13 points and losing the best player in the world to his fourth foul before the second quarter of Game Four in the Eastern Conference finals is even over.
And then handing the ball to Kyrie Irving, getting out of the way, and watching him take the team to the doorstep of the National Basketball Association Finals.
That was reality for the title holders Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, as Irving set a career play-off high with 42 points in their 112-99 win over the Boston Celtics.
The Cavs, ahead 3-1 in the series, can reach their third straight NBA Finals, and LeBron James his seventh in a row, with a win in Game Five today in Boston.
James scored 34 points to go with six assists in Game Four, even though he left the game with 6:46 remaining in the second quarter after picking up his fourth foul.
He had never previously had so many first-half fouls in his 14-year career, and Cleveland trailed 33-46 at that stage.
Irving scored 36 points after that, including 21 during a game-turning third quarter in which Cleveland outscored Boston 40-23.
-
21
Points Kyrie Irving scored in the third quarter, half of his career play-off high total of 42.
"In the back of my mind, I was like, I'm saying to myself, 'We cannot - they cannot tie up this series'," he said. "They cannot. We cannot go to Boston 2-2 and then it becomes almost an even series."
Kevin Love added 17 points and a career play-off-high 17 rebounds for Cleveland.
The combined 93 points produced by Irving, James and Love are the most they have amassed as a group and the second highest for a trio in team play-off history.
Avery Bradley led the Celtics with 19 points and Jae Crowder added 18 points and eight rebounds. Al Horford contributed 16 points and seven assists.
The Celtics, who are missing their best player, injured guard Isaiah Thomas, led by as many as 16 points in the first half and appeared primed to stun Cleveland again while James flirted with trouble.
Irving kept the game close until half-time with 12 points. Then he tied a team play-off record with his 21 points in the third quarter, set a Cavs post-season record with nine field goals and scored the final 14 points of the period.
When his three-pointer splashed with a half-second left in the third quarter, the Cavs led 87-80.
The circumstances were different and the primary architect of the comeback was Irving instead of James, but Cleveland fighting back from 16 points down was in some ways reminiscent of the 26-point half-time deficit they erased in Game Three of their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers.
James recovered from an 11-point, four-of-13 shooting night he endured in Cleveland's stunning Game Three loss.
"I don't think I've ever had four fouls in a game before in the first half, so my rhythm is kind of broken and you've got to figure out ways you can still help the team, and my team-mates said be aggressive, be you," he said.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
