Celtics used balance to beat LeBron James, Cavs again

BOSTON – The Celtics punched the Cavaliers first and never looked back in rolling to a Game 1 rout.

LeBron James took a literal shot to the jaw in Game 2 but kept right on scoring.

So did the Celtics.

Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and Boston withstood a 42-point night by James to beat Cleveland 107-94 on Tuesday and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Terry Rozier added 18 points, while Al Horford finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Boston improved to 9-0 this postseason at TD Garden. The Celtics have never blown a 2-0 series lead in the playoffs.

"We're going to fight," Rozier said. "At this point we don't care if we win by half a point. If we win, that's all that matters."

But he didn't seem to play with the same force after straining his neck in a first-half collision and the Cavaliers wilted in the second half, with the Celtics outscoring them 59-39.

"I think I'll be fine. I'm not going to lose sleep over it. You go out and when you lay everything on the line, at the end of the day, you can live with that," he said. "They did what they had to do, and that was protect home, and now it's our time to try to do that, as well."

Kevin Love finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland.

Kyle Korver added 11 points off the bench for Cleveland. But starters Tristan Thompson, who replaced Korver in the lineup to try and find a spark, JR Smith and George Hill combined for just 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

Tempers flared with 3:49 to play with Boston leading 97-89. Marcus Morris got in Smith's face after Smith pushed Horford in the back to prevent a layup. Smith shoved Morris and the pair had to be separated.

"I felt like it was uncalled for that type of play there," Horford said. "We have each other's backs. ... We moved on to the next play way and we locked in after that."

Smith said there was no malicious intent on the play.