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Kyrie Irving leads Cleveland past Boston for 3-1 series lead

LeBron James has had problems with Boston’s defense during the current series.

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The Boston Celtics play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Thursday.

Kyrie Irving backed up his massive game four with 24 points and seven assists, while Kevin Love had a double-double, adding 11 boards to his 15 points. With No.1 pick from this year’s draft, the Celtics could add more significant depth to their team.

A win for Cleveland on Thursday night would see James and Co. advancing to face Golden State in the NBA Finals for the third straight season.

INSKEEP: That gave LeBron James 5,989 career points in the playoffs, two more than Michael Jordan, the most all time.

The Celtics pulled off the improbable comeback upset in Game 3 before Kyrie Irving and James combined to bring the defending champions back from 16 points down to win Game 4 Tuesday night.

He also said he believes that the greatness conversation is discussed more often in the National Basketball Association than in other sports.

“Coming out at half-time, I just wanted to be aggressive and lead my guys and leave it all out there on the floor”, Irving said.

Both teams dominated throughout the playoffs-the Warriors making history by going an unprecedented 12-0 through three rounds in the Western Conference with the Cavs losing a single game in the East.

Boston’s Avery Bradley tried to fight back with 14 points in the second quarter. It’s tough for me to say that is the case.

With James back at full strength and the Celtics severely depleted with Isaiah Thomas out, the Cavaliers are deserving of their role as massive favorites heading into Game 5. “Like, they hit the post, Golden State runs splits and all that stuff but these guys are running all kinds of (stuff)”. Game 1 is set for May 29 in Pittsburgh.

Minutes after the National Basketball Association announced the three finalists for the MVP award – and James wasn’t among them – the Cavaliers star scored 30 points before resting in the fourth quarter.

The 2016 champion Cavs will battle the 2015 champion Warriors for the third straight year. “I went when I was 23 years old, and it felt like the Western Conference Finals was nearly like the championship. You got to come out every night and prove yourself”.

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Lue knows the Cavs are facing a hard task, one made tougher with the addition of the versatile Durant, who can score down low, from the perimeter and free-throw line.

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