Celtics Put Clamps In 2nd, 3rd Periods To Beat Cavaliers Again

Boston, MA (AHN) - Boston dropped mighty assaults in the second and third periods to clamp down on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 89-73 for a 2-0 best-of-seven series lead Thursday night at the TD Banknorth Garden.

The Celtics tightened the ropes in the pivotal two periods, holding James to just 1-of-11 shooting from the field. They also pounded the Cavaliers 36-10 in the stretch, translating an eight-point hole to a seven-point lead and more down the stretch.

While James was frustrated by missed shot after missed shot, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen seemed to hit their strides following dismal showings in the opener. Pierce made seven of 13 shots after going just 2-of-14 in Game 1 while Allen shot 4-of-10 following a scoreless first game against Cleveland.

Pierce wound up with a team-high 19 points, Allen had 16 and Kevin Garnett 13 points on top of 12 rebounds. The win extended the Celtics' dominance at home, which now stands at 6-0 heading to Game 3 at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday night.

James tallied 21 points but was 6-of-24 from the floor, 9-of-13 from the line and 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. Worse, he had more turnovers than rebounds and assists, accounting for seven of Cleveland's 15 errors all game long.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the Cavaliers with 19 points and Wally Szczerbiak added 13 points. Cleveland was outscored 53-27 in the second and third quarters alone, no thanks to an 11.8 field-goal percentage clip in the second period.

Delonte West finished with just three points on 1-of-5 shooting although he did have seven rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots. Ben Wallace played just 3:40 due to dizziness in the first period and didn't return in the game.