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LeBron, Cavs eliminate Bulls, face Celtics next

ANTAWN Jamison scored 25 points and LeBron James just missed a triple-double as the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to a playoff against Boston by beating Chicago 96-94 in Game 5 last night in perhaps Vinny Del Negro's final game as Bulls coach.

James, favoring a tender right elbow, scored 19 points - 16 in the second half - and added 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Cavs clinched the series 4-1. Unable to lift his right arm, James was forced to shoot a free throw left-handed with 7.8 seconds left.

Cleveland will face the Celtics, reuniting teams that don't like each other and who played a testy seven-game series in 2008.

Celtic 96, Heat 86

At Boston, Ray Allen scored 24 points, making five 3-pointers in the second half, to help the Celtics beat Miami in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

Boston advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals thanks to 16 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds from Rajon Rondo. Paul Pierce scored 21 for the Celtics, who will play Cleveland, which eliminated Chicago later Tuesday in Game 5 of their first-round series.

Wade scored 31 points - far short of the franchise postseason-record 46 he scored Sunday in Game 4 in Miami to help the Heat stave off elimination.

Mavericks 103, Spurs 81

At Dallas, Caron Butler scored a career playoff-best 35 points and had 11 rebounds, while Brendan Haywood provided a strong inside presence at both ends as Dallas stayed alive by beating San Antonio in Game 5.

The Spurs still lead the series 3-2 and have two more chances to get into the second round. Game 6 is Thursday at San Antonio. Only eight teams have ever blown a 3-1 lead.

Butler's performance turned Dirk Nowitzki into a sidekick. He had 15 points and nine rebounds. Jason Terry had 12 points, while Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd each scored 10. Kidd also had seven assists and seven rebounds.

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 18 points. Half of them came during an 11-2 run at the end of the second quarter that gave the Spurs hope of pulling off another throttling third quarter, like they did to win Game 4.





 

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