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Celtics Roll To 2-0 Series Lead

The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 9, 2008

BOSTON - Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland.

Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

One game after going 2-for-18 from the field and missing his last six shots, including a layup to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left, James missed his first three tries and finished with 21 points on 6-for-24.

This time it was contagious: The Cavaliers shot 35.6 percent in the game, hitting only 11.8 percent in the second quarter as Boston turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead.

Game 3 is Saturday night in Cleveland. The Cavaliers will need their crowd to pull them out of their funk because the Celtics are 6-0 in the playoffs in Boston, and they would have the homecourt advantage through the NBA finals.

CLEVELAND (73) - James 6-24 9-13 21, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Ilgauskas 9-12 1-2 19, West 1-5 1-2 3, Szczerbiak 4-11 4-4 13, Varejao 1-5 1-2 3, Smith 2-7 0-0 4, Gibson 0-2 2-2 2, Pavlovic 2-4 0-0 5, D.Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Dw.Jones 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 26-73 19-27 73.

BOSTON (89) - Pierce 7-13 4-6 19, Garnett 5-9 3-3 13, Perkins 0-2 0-2 0, Rondo 0-6 7-7 7, R.Allen 4-10 7-8 16, Powe 4-7 3-6 11, Cassell 4-12 1-2 9, Posey 3-6 0-0 7, P.Brown 2-3 0-0 4, House 0-2 0-0 0, T.Allen 0-0 1-2 1, Davis 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 29-72 28-38 89.

Cleveland	24	12	15	22	-	73
Boston	17	27	26	19	-	89

3-Point Goals-Cle. 2-13 (Pavlovic 1-2, Szczerbiak 1-4, Gibson 0-1, West 0-1, D.Brown 0-1, James 0-4), Bos. 3-14 (R.Allen 1-3, Posey 1-4, Pierce 1-5, Cassell 0-2). Rebounds-Cle. 52 (Varejao 10), Bos. 56 (Garnett 12). Assists-Cle. 18 (James 6), Bos. 20 (Rondo 6). Total Fouls-Cle. 27, Bos. 26. Technicals-Cle. def. 3 second, Bos. def. 3 second 2. A-18,624 (18,624).

ALL-NBA TEAM: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was the only unanimous selection. Joining Bryant on the first team were Orlando C Dwight Howard, New Orleans G Chris Paul, Boston F Kevin Garnett and Cleveland F LeBron James.

BUCKS: Point guard Mo Williams had surgery to repair ligament damage in his right thumb and is expected to be ready for training camp.

JAZZ: Owner Larry Miller, a member of the Mormon church, says he won't attend Game 4 of the Western Conference semis because it's being played Sunday.

NETS: Kiki Vandeweghe was promoted to general manager, less than six months after being hired as a special assistant to team president Rod Thorn.

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