Cavs destroy the Celtics 135-102, back in Finals for third straight year

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 135-102 in impressive fashion on Thursday night to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title and a return trip to the NBA Finals.

LeBron James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA's all-time playoff scoring leader as. He will soon become the first NBA player to score 6,000 career points in the playoffs.

Michael Jordan may have scored his points in fewer games, but James did it on fewer shots (4,377 for James vs. 4,497 for Jordan). James has proven himself in the playoffs. He’s made seven straight NBA Finals. He has won three titles, including last year’s that ended Cleveland’s title drought.

Kyrie Irving, continued to shoot himself back into rhythm, scored 24 points (13 in the third quarter). Kevin Love added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Deron Williams added 14 points off the bench.

The Cleveland Cavaliers set franchise records for the most points scored in a quarter and half, and as such, built a 75-57 lead over the Boston Celtics after the first two quarters of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden.

With the victory, the Cavs set the NBA record for consecutive wins in closeout games at 13, which dates to the 2009 playoffs and set the franchise record for points in a playoff game.

Cleveland's 4-1 series' win gives it a 12-1 record this postseason and sets up a third consecutive matchup with Western Conference champion Golden State, the team it beat in the Finals last season to claim the franchise's first championship.

COMING UP FOR THE CAVS: The Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Golden State Warriors for the NBA Title starting on Thursday, June, 1 at 9:00pm. The Cavs and Warriors are the first teams to meet in three-consecutive NBA Finals. Both teams are the only teams in NBA history to score at least 100 points in all of their playoff games.