LeBron James leads Cavaliers to Game 7 victory at Boston

BOSTON - With another Game 7 victory at stake, LeBron James would not miss. He would not sit out. And he would not be denied an eighth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.

James, a four-time league MVP, scored 35 points with 15 rebounds and nine assists on Sunday night, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 87-79 win against the Celtics and eliminating Boston from the Eastern Conference final in the decisive seventh game.

In the first close game of the series - and the lowest-scoring - James played all 48 minutes and had 12 of his points in the fourth quarter for his sixth consecutive Game 7 win.

The NBA Finals begin Thursday at either Houston or Golden State. The Rockets host the seventh game of the West final tonight.

If tonight’s winner turns out to be Golden State, the championship series will match the same teams for the fourth consecutive year with the Warriors having beaten Cleveland in 2015 and 2017 and the Cavaliers winning in 2016 with a Game 7 win at Oakland.

Jayson Tatum scored 24 for Boston, which was looking to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. Al Horford scored 17 points and Marcus Morris added 14 with 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who led 72-71 with six minutes remaining before the Cavaliers scored 15 of the next 17 points to pull away.

James and Horford embraced after the buzzer, then the Cavaliers donned NBA Finals hats and Eastern conference championship shirts before shuffling off the court to receive their trophy.

It’s not the one they want.

James had to do it without Kevin Love - Cleveland’s only other all-star - who sustained a concussion in Game 6 and was replaced in the lineup by Jeff Green. Making his first start since the first-round opener against Indiana, Green scored 19 points and added eight rebounds - the star of James’ starless supporting cast.

The Celtics have had more time to get used to their injuries: Gordon Hayward has been out since the first game of the season, and Kyrie Irving has been sidelined since March. With the rookie Tatum and second-year Jaylen Brown, Boston established itself as the team of the future in the East.

But the present still belongs to James.

And, for now, that means Cleveland, too.

NOTES

The Cavaliers shot just 2 of 17 from 3-point range in the first half. They made three of their first 22 shots before James and Green connected on back-to-back attempts midway through the third quarter. They finished the game 9 for 35 (25.7 percent) on 3-point attempts.

Former Celtics star Paul Pierce, whose number was retired by the team this season, cheered the team on from courtside.

Rapper 21 Savage was also at the game.

Boston was 7 for 39 from 3-point range, with Terry Rozier missing all 10 of his attempts.

Though low-scoring, the game remained close throughout. There were nine lead changes and the biggest lead in the game was 12 points - by both teams.