Apr 24, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) takes a shot against Detroit Pistons forward Stanley Johnson (3) during the third quarter in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Cavs win 100-98. Photo Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — Kyrie Irving scored 31 points, and LeBron James added 22 points and 11 rebounds to help the Cleveland Cavaliers complete a four-game sweep of the Detroit Pistons in a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with a 100-98 victory Sunday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Cavaliers advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they will await the winner of the series between the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics that is tied at two games apiece.
Just as in Games 1 and 3, Detroit hung with Cleveland for the entire game, but the Cavaliers had too much firepower and experience in the fourth to be denied.
After Detroit cut a nine-point Cleveland lead to 97-96 with 1:08 remaining on a 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Irving buried a 3-pointer from the wing with 42.6 seconds left to put the Cavaliers up by four.
Pistons guard Reggie Jackson shaved the Cleveland lead to 100-98 on a dunk with 32.8 seconds remaining, and then Detroit had a chance to tie or win after rebounding an Irving miss with under 10 seconds remaining.
Proceeding down the court without a timeout, Jackson couldn’t convert a contested 3-point shot from the top of the key as time expired.
Cleveland took an 81-78 lead into the fourth quarter after Irving hit a shot from half-court just before the buzzer sounded to end the third. Irving then scored the first five points of the fourth to give Cleveland an 86-78 lead with 11:15 remaining.
Detroit answered with a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 86-85 with 8:35 left, but Cleveland took a 95-86 lead with 4:54 remaining on a deep 3-pointer by J.R. Smith.
A 3-pointer from Tobias Harris and a Marcus Morris basket pulled Detroit back within 95-91 with 3:44 remaining, and then after a basket by James, Jackson hit a basket with 2:31 left to bring Detroit within 97-93.
Morris scored 24 points and Harris had 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead Detroit, which was saw its first playoff appearance since 2009 end quickly at the hand of the top-seeded Cavaliers.
Detroit center Andre Drummond added 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jackson finished with 13 points and 12 assists.
Smith scored 15, Cleveland forward Kevin Love contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds, and reserve guard Matthew Dellavedova also had 11 points.
NOTES: The Cavaliers have not lost a first round playoff series since 1998, when Indiana beat them in four games back when the first round was a best-of-five format. … The last time the Pistons won a playoff series was in 2008, when they beat Philadelphia in six games. … LeBron James averaged 41 minutes per game in the series, which was down slightly from the 42.4 minutes he averaged in his career for playoff games. During the regular season, James averaged 35.6 minutes a game. … In the first three games, Cleveland hit 44 shots from behind the 3-point arc, which matched the 2003 Dallas Mavericks for the most made 3-pointers over a three-game span in a single playoffs for any NBA team. Dallas hit 44 shots from 3-point range in the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals against Sacramento. … Pistons reserve G Reggie Bullock, who scored eight points in Game 1 and four points in Game 2, missed his second consecutive game due to left leg neuritis.
