James, Cavaliers Finish Off the Nets

Cavaliers 88, Nets 72

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., May 18 -- LeBron James came back just in time to make sure the New Jersey Nets couldn't.

James returned from a long stint on the bench to score 23 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 15 years by beating the Nets, 88-72, on Friday night.

Cleveland won the series 4-2 and heads to Detroit on Monday night for its third appearance in a conference finals and the first since 1992. James, who had eight rebounds and eight assists, needed only four years to get the Cavaliers into the NBA's final four.

He got plenty of help in the clincher from reserves Donyell Marshall and Daniel Gibson, and the Cavaliers needed it because James spent most of the third quarter on the bench in foul trouble and Cleveland managed just eight points. New Jersey cut what had been a 22-point deficit to one, but with James back for the fourth quarter, the Nets never could take the lead.

James was asked what he was thinking as the Nets got within one point.

"Would the third quarter please end so I could get back in the game?" he said.

Marshall scored 18 points and Gibson had eight. They had combined for 26 points total in the first five games of the series.

Jason Kidd had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists for the Nets, who stayed alive with a victory at Cleveland in Game 5 and were hoping to become the ninth NBA team to come back from 3-1 deficit to win a series.

Instead, they stalled in the conference semifinals for the second straight year.

Richard Jefferson scored 16 points and Mikki Moore added 14, but leading scorer Vince Carter had only 11 and heard boos in what could have been his last game for the Nets. He can become a free agent this summer.

Cleveland led by 15 points early in the third quarter, but the Nets stormed back when James went to the bench with his fourth foul with the Cavaliers up, 59-46, a little more than four minutes into the period.

Kidd scored the next two baskets, triggering a 14-2 run to end the period. The Nets outscored the Cavaliers 22-8 in the quarter -- Cleveland just missed the worst third quarter in NBA playoff history -- and closed to 61-60 heading to the fourth.

The Nets were down only one after Moore's three-point play with 9 minutes 38 seconds to play, but Gibson and Marshall made consecutive three-pointers to push the lead to 70-63 with 7:45 left. James made a jumper less than a minute later for his first points since the first quarter, and Marshall -- 0 for 7 in Game 5 -- buried another three to make it 75-66 with 5:47 remaining.

With that, Cleveland prevented another second-round heartbreak. The Cavaliers led Detroit 3-2 last year before dropping the final two games.

"This is a big win for our franchise and a big win for us individually and a birthday present for Donyell Marshall," James said of his teammate, who went 6 for 10 from three-point range on the day he turned 34.

The Cavaliers missed their first chance to clinch with an 83-72 loss Wednesday night in Cleveland.

"We wanted to be aggressive and we did a great job of spreading the floor for our shooters," James said of Cleveland's strategy at the start of the fourth quarter. "Donyell and Daniel did a great job."

James bruised and cut his knee chasing a loose ball in the final minute of Game 5, but was quickly cleared to play and said he was fine before Friday's game.