LeBron James delivered 38 points and Kevin Love had a career playoff high 32 as the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers opened their Eastern Conference final series with a blowout win on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers were coming off a 10-day break but showed no signs of rust by going wire-to-wire to easily beat the Boston Celtics 117-104 at the Boston Garden arena.
Game two is Friday at the Garden before the series shifts to Cleveland for games three and four.
The Cavaliers dominated from the opening tipoff. They compiled a 26-point lead in the first half and expanding it to 28 in the third quarter before the Celtics cut it down to 17 at the end of the quarter.
James, who is seeking to reach his seventh straight NBA finals, scored 15 in the fourth quarter en route to his seventh straight 30-point game. He also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
Love also grabbed 12 rebounds. Tristan Thompson had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Kyrie Irving tallied 11 points and six assists.
Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder led the Celtics with 21 points apiece.
The Cavaliers managed to keep Isaiah Thomas in check as he finished with just 17 points and 10 assists. He was just seven of 19 from the floor, two of seven from beyond the arc.
The win was the Cavaliers' 12th in a row in the playoffs (one shy of matching the NBA record, set by the 1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers), dating back to last year's finals.
Boston had their five-game home playoff winning streak snapped.
Some third-quarter unpleasantness erupted between Thompson and Boston’s Marcus Smart. The pair was whistled for double fouls on one occasion and came together on other occasions.
