NBA: LeBron James scores 35 points, Cavaliers sweep Raptors

LeBron James scored 35 points, Kyrie Irving added 27 and the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a four-game sweep of Toronto, beating the Raptors 109-102 on Sunday to give James his seventh consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Kyle Korver scored 18 points to help the Cavaliers become the first team to win eight straight playoff games the year following a title, and the first team to win eight straight in consecutive postseasons.

Channing Frye had 10 points, and Cleveland finished 16 for 41 from 3-point range.

They finished off the Raptors about an hour before Game 4 between the Celtics and Wizards tipped off in Washington.

That series won’t end until Wednesday night at the earliest, and could run until Monday night, meaning the Cavaliers will have plenty of time to rest before the Eastern Conference Finals.

James added nine rebounds and six assists. Irving had nine assists.

Serge Ibaka scored 23 points, and DeMar DeRozan had 22 for the Raptors.

Washington 121, Boston 102

Bradley Beal scored 29 points and Washington Wizards used a 26-0 third-quarter run to beat the Boston Celtics 121-102 on Sunday night to tie the second-round series at two games apiece.

John Wall added 27 points and 12 assists for Washington. Wall had seven points, three assists and two steals during the third-quarter spree that featured eight Celtics turnovers. Otto Porter scored four of his 18 points in the dominant six-minute span that also included five points from Markieff Morris.

Trailing 53-48 before the run, Washington led 74-53 on Porter’s layup with 5 minutes left in the third. The Wizards led by as many as 26 and outscored the Celtics (237-191) in the two games in D.C.

Isaiah Thomas had 19 points for Boston, but scored 17 in the first 15 minutes and was held to 1-of-6 shooting after.

Game 5 is Wednesday in Boston. The series winner will face Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Though nothing compared to eight technical fouls and three ejections in Game 3, tensions bubbled up late after the result was no longer in doubt. Thomas was called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter, but the situation did not escalate.

Houston 125, San Antonio 104

James Harden scored 28 points, Eric Gordon added 22 and the Houston Rockets rebounded from consecutive losses to beat the San Antonio Spurs 125-104 on Sunday night and tie the Western Conference semifinal at 2-2.

The Rockets never trailed and used hot 3-point shooting to pull away in the third quarter.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in San Antonio.

Jonathon Simmons had 17 points for the Spurs, and Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 apiece.

Houston made 22 3-pointers in a blowout win in Game 1, but had struggled from long-range in its two losses. The Rockets’ 3-point shooting, a hallmark of their success in the regular season, got back on track Sunday when they made 19 of 43, led by six from Gordon.

The Rockets led by 15 entering the fourth quarter and immediately padded the lead when Gordon made a 3-pointer to open the period. Simmons made a 3 on the other end before Gordon struck again with his sixth 3-pointer to leave the Rockets up 97-79.

The Spurs were unable to cut into the lead after that and both teams had mostly backups on the court by the midpoint of the period with the game out of hand.

Houston’s offense bounced back in a big way after the team had been held to below 100 points in each of the last two games after failing to reach the mark only five times in the regular season.

The offense was helped by a more balanced scoring attack with seven players scoring in double figures after only three Rockets scored more than 10 points in Game 3. Harden had 12 assists after managing just five in the last game and added five rebounds.

The Rockets were up by five early in the third quarter before using an 8-2 run to make it 70-59 with about eight minutes left in the quarter. Gordon started that run with a 3-pointer and Harden capped it when he stepped back and sunk another 3 with Aldridge in his face.

Harden was shaken up soon after that when he banged his left knee into Patty Mills as he attempted to drive to the basket. He fell to the court grabbing his knee as Houston called a timeout and trainers rushed to him. But there was no need for alarm, as he shook off the injury and returned after the timeout to make a 3-pointer seconds later.

It was the first of three straight 3-pointers for the Rockets in a 9-2 run that made it 79-61 midway through the quarter.

San Antonio scored the next eight points, with six from Aldridge, to cut it to 79-69 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Houston still had a 10-point lead late in the quarter before closing out the third with an 8-3 run that pushed it to 91-76 entering the fourth. Ryan Anderson wrapped up the scoring in that quarter with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Houston led by as many as 15 in the first half and was up 57-53 at halftime.