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Cavs Complete Sweep in Beantown

Wrap-Up – The Cavaliers won Sunday’s game and subsequently their First Round series sweep against the Celtics. But that win might have come at a steep cost, as Kevin Love suffered a dislocated left shoulder early in the first quarter.

Four Cavaliers notched double-doubles and Cleveland earned its fourth sweep in franchise history, jumping out to a 21-point lead before fending off a fourth-quarter Celtics rally. But the story of Sunday’s physical tilt was the play that sent Love scrambling straight from the court to the locker room, grasping his left shoulder in obvious pain.

With 5:22 remaining in the first quarter, as Love boxed out Boston big man Kelly Olynyk on a Jae Crowder three-point attempt, the two got tangled under the basket. But Olynyk tugged hard on Love’s left arm and as they separated, Love immediately turned and headed for the locker room.

The Wine and Gold’s three-time All-Star didn’t return to action on Sunday afternoon and was diagnosed with a dislocated left shoulder. He’ll be evaluated further back in Cleveland on Monday as his teammates prepare for the winner of the Chicago-Milwaukee series as the Second Round tips off next weekend at The Q.

Following the game, Love had some harsh words for Boston’s second-year center.

“I thought it was a bush league play,” said Love. “Olynyk was in a compromising position, had no chance to get the ball and it’s just too bad that he would go to those lengths to take somebody out of the game and do that to someone. I have no doubt in my mind that he did that on purpose.”

The physical play didn’t end there. Late in the second quarter, Kendrick Perkins dropped Crowder on a hard screen near midcourt. When the two got in each other’s face, with teammates scrambling to separate them, Perkins poked Crowder in the face. Each player got whistled for a technical, with Perkins earning the Flagrant-1.

Less than 90 seconds into the second stanza, Crowder found himself in the middle of another beef – one that would end his afternoon. On a Brandon Bass free throw miss, Crowder bodied J.R. Smith from behind for the rebound. Without looking Smith swung backwards and connected with Crowder’s jaw. As Crowder fell, his right leg buckled beneath him and he was eventually helped to the locker room not under his own power. For his part, Smith was issued a Flagrant-2 and promptly ejected.

Between the scuffles, a basketball game was actually played. And the Wine and Gold’s defense was stellar in sweeping the C’s from the 2015 postseason – holding Boston to just 39 percent shooting, including 13 percent (3-23) from beyond the arc.

Offensively, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving – a duo that had either scored or assisted every Cavaliers fourth-quarter basket in the previous two contests – led the way.

LeBron led everyone with 27 points, going 10-of-24 from the floor to go with 10 boards, eight assists and a game-high three steals. Irving followed up with 24 points and 11 boards of his own, going 8-for-19 from the field – adding three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. The Cavs’ All-Star duo were the only starters to score in the fourth quarter, but they each notched 10 points apiece.

Iman Shumpert played an outstanding game off the bench, doubling up with 15 points and 10 boards – going 3-of-4 from the floor and a perfect 8-of-8 from the stripe. Timofey Mozgov had another strong game on both ends of the floor, notching 12 points, 11 boards and a game-high three blocks – as many as Boston had as a team.

LeBron led the Wine and Gold in the series, averaging 27.0 points per. Irving was right behind at a 23.0 ppg clip through the four-game sweep.

Timofey Mozgov

LeBron records near triple-double.

View some of the best snapshots.

LeBron quiets the crowd.

Go inside the locker room.

Watch slow-mo highlights from Sunday's victory.

Turning Point – In a game that had seemingly everything, there wasn’t a moment that the game actually turned. Cleveland jumped out to a double-digit lead after one quarter and, when LeBron James scored on a layup just before intermission, had extended its edge to three touchdowns at half.

The Celtics scored 32 points in the final quarter and eventually carved the Cavaliers’ lead to just six with 37 seconds to play. But Kyrie Irving’s two free throws with 29.8 to play iced the win for the Wine and Gold as they won each of the final three games of the series by eight points.

By the Numbers0 … number of series during the LeBron James Era of Cavaliers postseason basketball that they jumped to a 3-0 series lead and failed to sweep their opponent.

QuotableJ.R. Smith, on the physicality of the four-game series …

”The chippiness of this series, that’s just the way playoff basketball is played. That’s the way they’ve been playing me my whole career. That’s what they’ve always been about, is to play hard, play tough. I don’t think anybody should lose respect for anybody over playing hard.”

Up Next –After wrapping up the four-game sweep over Boston, the Cavaliers will have to play the waiting game until the Milwaukee-Chicago series – which stands at 3-1 in the Bulls’ favor wraps up. The soonest the Second Round can begin is Saturday, but we do know that it’ll tip off before 20,562 fans on the corner of Huron and Ontario.