Cavs Will Face Warriors Again in Finals

BOSTON (AP) — The NBA Finals will be a "three-match." Cleveland will battle Golden State for the NBA championship for the third year in a row, after the Cavaliers eliminated the Celtics in Game 5 in Boston.

LeBron James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA's all-time playoff scoring leader as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 135-102 on Thursday night to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title.

Kyrie Irving added 24 points and Kevin Love finished with 15 for the Cavs, who never trailed and led by as many as 39 points in one of their most dominating wins of the series. The Cavs set an NBA record by winning their 13th consecutive series closeout opportunity.

The Warriors host Game 1 of the finals on Thursday.