CLEVELAND (AP) – Kyrie Irving scored 30 points in his playoff debut, LeBron James added 20 in his first postseason game with Cleveland in five years and the Cavaliers opened a run toward an NBA title with a 113-100 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
Irving made five 3-pointers and Kevin Love, another postseason rookie, added 19 points and 12 rebounds.
It was Cleveland’s first home playoff game since May 11, 2010, when the Celtics won Game 5 and James left the floor to some boos from Cavaliers fans. He departed for Miami two months later, but he’s home now, all is forgiven and Cleveland is aiming to end a championship drought dating to 1964.
Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points to lead the seventh-seeded Celtics. They will try to even the best-of-7 series in Game 2 on Tuesday night.
The Cavs built a 20-point lead in the third quarter, let the Celtics get as close as six and then finished the quarter with a 9-0 run – capped a 3-pointer by James Jones – to take a 15-point lead into the fourth.