NBA Playoffs Roundup: April 22, 2015

Today’s action from the 2015 NBA Playoffs generally went as expected, with Cleveland and Houston pocketing 2-0 leads, but the big kicker was Washington repeating over Toronto ON THE ROAD. Who saw that coming? Now the Wiz are returning home just two wins away from sweeping the higher-seeded Raps.

Game Capsules from The Sports Network:

April 2, 2015:
Cleveland 99, Boston 91
Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to Boston with a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series. James scored 30 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven assists as the Cavs held off the upset-minded Celtics 99-91 on Tuesday. James committed six of Cleveland's 18 turnovers but came through down the stretch. He also passed Jerry West for seventh on the NBA's all-time postseason scoring list. Kyrie Irving followed up his 30-point playoff debut with 26 points for the Cavaliers, while Timofey Mozgov and Kevin Love chipped in 16 and 13 points, respectively. Isaiah Thomas once again led the Celtics with 22 points, but it wasn't enough for the underdogs to steal homecourt advantage. They will host Game 3 on Thursday night.





Washington 117, Toronto 106
Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - John Wall was at his very best on Tuesday, tallying 26 points and 17 assists and the fifth-seeded Washington Wizards stunned the Toronto Raptors 117-106 to take a commanding 2-0 series lead in their first-round matchup. Bradley Beal scored a playoff career-high 28 points and Marcin Gortat added 16 and eight boards for the Wizards, who shot 53.2 percent and posted a dominant 45-28 advantage on the boards. The Wizards finished the regular season 17-24 on the road, but the playoffs have told a different story over the past two seasons. With this win, they improved to 7-1 in their last eight postseason games away from home. DeMar DeRozan and Lou Williams, who was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year on Monday, paced Toronto with 20 points apiece. Game 3 is set for Friday at Verizon Center.




Houston 111, Dallas 99
Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Houston Rockets turned a nip-and-tuck affair through three quarters into a rout after exploding during the first half of the fourth. And that was with MVP candidate James Harden on the bench. Josh Smith came alive in the second half, posting 13 points, nine assists and six rebounds after the break to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. Smith tallied just two points on 1-of-5 shooting during a woeful opening 24 minutes.




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