MIAMI (AP) — Cleveland left no doubt on its way to Round 2 — and finished off the most lopsided series in NBA playoff history.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points, De’Andre Hunter added 19 and the Cavaliers rolled past the Miami Heat 138-83 on Monday night to sweep their Eastern Conference first-round series in four games.
Ty Jerome had 18 points, Evan Mobley added 17 and Jarrett Allen had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six steals for the Cavaliers — who led by as many as 60 points.
Cleveland won the four games by a combined 122 points. The previous record: a 121-point combined win by Denver over New Orleans in 2009.
The 55-point margin in Game 4 was the fourth-biggest playoff win ever. The record for biggest playoff win is 58 points, done twice: Minneapolis over St. Louis in 1956 and Denver over New Orleans in 2009. The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden State by 56 points in 1973.
WARRIORS 109, ROCKETS 106
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jimmy Butler converted three free throws with 58.7 seconds left, grabbed the game-clinching rebound with 4 seconds to go and then made two more free throws on the way to 27 points in his return from a pelvic injury, sending Golden State past Houston in a heated Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Fred VanVleet missed a 3-pointer under pressure at the buzzer.
The teams return to Houston for Game 5 in the best-of-seven series on Wednesday night as seventh-seeded Golden State tries to close out the No. 2 seed Rockets on their home floor.
Brandin Podziemski scored 26 points, Stephen Curry finished with 17 in the frantic finish and Buddy Hield hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:32 left and scored 15 after joining the starting lineup.
Alperen Sengun scored with 40 seconds left for Houston to make it a one-point game. He had 31 points and 10 rebounds, while VanVleet hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:20 to play and scored 25 points.
The Associated Press
