Cavaliers 78 - 117 Celtics
Final
  for this game

Cavs, Celtics square off again

Apr 12, 2015 - 12:52 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will try to win the back end of a home-and-home series with the Boston Celtics Sunday afternoon at TD Bank Garden.

The Celtics defeated the Cavs at Quicken Loans Arena Friday night and are tied for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Boston and the Brooklyn Nets share seventh and are one game ahead of the Indiana Pacers. Both teams are just two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for sixth, but with three games left, time is running out.

The Cavs punched their postseason ticket and won the Central Division. They are locked into the No. 2 seed, but are looking to head into the postseason with some momentum.

Marcus Smart scored 19 points, Isaiah Thomas added 17 and the Celtics prevailed, 99-90.

Avery Bradley netted 15 points, Tyler Zeller supplied 13 points and six rebounds and Evan Turner provided 13 assists and six boards for Boston, which has won five of its last six games.

LeBron James and Kevin Love did not play in the fourth quarter. Their availability for Sunday afternoon is unknown.

"Obviously, they didn't play Love or LeBron in the fourth quarter, but we took a pretty good punch from them in the third," Boston coach Brad Stevens said.

Love posted 19 points and six rebounds, while James tallied 14 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers, who had won eight of their last nine games coming in but held out Kyrie Irving due to a hip injury.

"It was a good game for us," Cavs coach David Blatt said. "We got a chance to play some guys that haven't seen the floor a lot."

Boston had lost a 16-point lead during the early stages of the second half by the end of the third, but regained control of the contest with a 9-2 spurt early in the fourth.

Smart's floater capped the swing for a 90-82 Celtics cushion at the 7:20 mark of the period.

Cleveland never got within fewer than six the rest of the way.

The Celtics have won six straight on the road, their longest since a six-game stretch from Nov. 22-Dec. 15, 2010. They complete their campaign at home against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday and in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

The Cavs finish the season at home against the Detroit Pistons on Monday and the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.

Cleveland won the first two meetings this season and the teams have split the last six encounters in Boston.






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