Associated Press
CLEVELAND ó They dunked on the Boston Celtics. Then, they danced all over them.
In an unforgettable season like none they’ve had before, the Cleveland Cavaliers are celebrating each milestone and moment.
LeBron James made five 3-pointers and scored 29 points before swaying to the music in his seat, and the Cavaliers throttled the defending NBA champions 107-76 on Sunday to move within one win of matching the 1985-86 Celtics for the best home record in league history.
At 39-1, the Cavs can tie Boston’s hallowed mark against Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
But equaling those Celtics of Bird, McHale and Parrish won’t mean anything if the Cavs, who have already clinched the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed, can’t dethrone the current guys in green sometime this spring.
Flexing their defensive muscles, the Cavs led 31-9 after the first quarter, opened a 30-point lead in the second and turned a possible playoff preview into a rout. It was Cleveland’s most lopsided win ever in 173 games against the Celtics.
“I looked up at the scoreboard one time and they were shooting 15 percent from the floor,” James said. “That’s unbelievable.”
A message, LeBron?
“Haven’t we sent enough messages this year?” he said. “We know we’re a good team. It wasn’t a message. It was just about getting better.”
The Cavaliers, now the 14th team in league history to win 65 games, may have never looked this good.
They outclassed the Celtics, who were missing Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe and have nothing to play for but pride after locking up the East’s No. 2 seed.
With Cleveland leading by 26 after three, James was pulled by coach Mike Brown for some of the rest he’ll need before making a title run.