NBA Playoffs: LeBron James scores 30 as Cavaliers beat Celtics, 99-91

LeBron James scored 30 points, Kyrie Irving added 26 and the Cleveland Cavaliers finally shook off Boston in the fourth quarter, beating the Celtics, 99-91, on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their opening-round series.

James scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, moved past Hall of Famer Jerry West on the career playoff scoring list and made sure the Cavs didn’t slip up at home. He and Irving combined for all of Cleveland’s 24 points in the final period.

Timofey Mozgov added 16 points and Tristan Thompson had 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which has had a tougher time than expected with a young Boston team.

Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points for the Celtics, who scrapped and clawed until the final minutes. Boston’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 51-7.

Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is Thursday night in Boston, where James had his first stint with Cleveland end with a playoff loss in 2010.

Washington Wizards rout Toronto Raptors, 117-106

John Wall had 26 points and 17 assists, Bradley Beal scored 28 points and the Washington Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors 117-106 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Marcin Gortat scored 16 points, Otto Porter had 15 and Paul Pierce added 10 for the Wizards, who host Game 3 on Friday night.

Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Sixth Man Award winner Lou Williams scored 20 points for the Raptors, who have lost four straight playoff games over the past two seasons.

Washington lost 15 of its final 19 regular season road games, but has won seven of eight away from home in the playoffs over the past two years. The Wizards won all three road games while beating Chicago in last year’s first round.

James Harden, Dwight Howard lead Rockets past Mavericks

Dwight Howard scored 28 points and James Harden added 24 to help the Houston Rockets coast to a 111-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference playoff series.

Howard and childhood friend Josh Smith dominated early in the fourth quarter to help the Rockets pull away.

The Mavericks scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to take a three-point lead. But with Harden on the bench, Houston scored the next 11 points, powered by three alley-oop passes from Smith to Howard, to take a 92-84 lead with about 8 minutes left.

Smith, who connected with Howard on six alley-oop passes, finished with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Monta Ellis had 24 points for Dallas, but big men Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler combined for just 21 points.

Game 3 is in Dallas on Friday night.