LeBron, Cavaliers back in familiar territory

The Cavs await the victor of the Boston Celtics-Washington Wizards series in the conference finals, which won’t open until at least May 15.

Cory Joseph had 20 points and 12 assists for Toronto, which lost in six games against Cleveland a year ago in the Conference Finals. Channing Frye scored 10 points, as well.

His lay-up with four minutes left had Cleveland up by eight. His 3.3 threes per game is what truly made him unguardable throughout this series. The Raptors took their first fourth-quarter lead of the series but couldn’t avoid their fourth straight loss.

A three by James gave the Cavs a 16-point lead at 10:05 of the third, but threes by Joseph, Ibaka, and Powell sparked a Raptors rally that saw them twice pull within five points late in the third.

Lowry’s backcourt mate, DeMar Derozan, signed a five-year $139 million contract last summer.

With James better than ever and the Cavaliers firing 3-pointers from all over, Toronto lost to Cleveland for the second straight postseason. The call to San Antonio could be loud this summer, but Toronto should be able to offer Lowry more money.

Kyle Lowry was on the bench with a sprained ankle yesterday while his team got punted out of the playoffs by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second consecutive season.

James scored 35 points in Game Three and Game Four and now has 5,846 points to trail Jordan by 151 points entering the Eastern Conference Finals.

John Wall tallied 27 points and 12 assists as the Wizards defeated the Celtics 121-102 yesterday to level their series at 2-2. Toronto shot 55 percent in the third quarter while holding Cleveland to 45 percent shooting. Terry Rozier had 16 points and Kelly Olynyk added 14 points for the Celtics.

Game 5 is Wednesday in Boston. Washington won a feisty Game 3, 116-89, after taking control with a 22-0 run in the first half. They were making shots, the Cavs were missing, and Toronto went up by 11 points – their highest lead of the series.

Kyle Korver hit a pair of free throws to put the Cavaliers ahead by seven with 18.5 seconds remaining. He proved himself on the biggest stage after finishing the 2015-16 season with averages of 2.6 blocks and 13 rebounds per 36 minutes, the third and sixth highest clip in the National Basketball Association, respectively.

Looking at the past is a risky road teams should be tired of travelling, but it’s hard to imagine the Raptors not feeling some sort of regret, especially where they’re now headed.

He eventually left for Miami, saying he needed to learn how to win, and along with a cast of All-Stars won two National Basketball Association titles in four seasons before returning to Cleveland. DeRozan was 8-for-18 from the floor and 6-for-9 from the free throw line. He finished 7 of 14 from the field. Points After Turnovers: 17. The legacy he’s building can’t help but intimidate and Toronto certainly isn’t the first team to fall pray. The Wizards led by as many as 26 and outscored the Celtics (237-191) in the two games in D.C.

Boston flipped the script Sunday.

He singled out his players’ confidence in three-point shooting, plus defensive areas such as shot challenges and rotations.

P.J. Tucker started this game and was huge.