CLEVELAND — The road to the Eastern Conference title officially goes through Cleveland.
LeBron James scored 19 of his 34 points in the third quarter, and Cleveland beat the Atlanta Hawks 109-94 Monday to clinch home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.
James dominated the game, playing 32 of the first 36 minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter. He shot 13-for-16 and staked the Cavs (57-24) to a 90-75 lead before Kyrie Irving took over in the fourth.
Irving finished with 35 points, including a 3-pointer early in the fourth that extended the lead to 98-81. He scored 11 of the Cavs’ first 12 points in the final period and 13 in the quarter overall — a big reason why James didn’t have to return.
Hornets 114, Celtics 100
BOSTON — Jeremy Lin turned Asian-American Night at TD Garden into a night of his own.
The former Harvard star ran wild during the second quarter, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the second quarter, 17 of them during a 31-3 explosion that led Charlotte to a rout of Boston in an important game for playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics confirmed they hold Asian-American Night to coincide with Lin’s visit, and he came off the bench in the first quarter and then dominated the game in the second — when the Celtics went almost eight minutes without a basket.
Lin, who came in averaging 11.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as the Hornets handed the Celtics, losers of two straight, only their third loss in their last 21 home games. Lin was 10-of-10 from the foul line.
Wizards 120, Nets 111
NEW YORK — Ramon Sessions collected 21 points and 12 assists in three quarters as Washington blew an early 20-point lead before pulling out a victory over Brooklyn.
Starting for the fourth consecutive game in place of star point guard John Wall (sore right knee), Sessions recorded his third double-double of the season, which all have occurred during the past week. He made his first five shots and finished 7-for-10.
Sessions had half of his points during the first quarter when the Wizards scored the game’s first 20 points in the opening 4:09.
Magic 107, Bucks 98
ORLANDO, Fla. — Ersan Ilyasova scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Orlando to a victory over Milwaukee at the Amway Center.
The Magic led from start to finish in their final home game of the season. The Bucks will close the season Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.
Rookie Mario Hezonja had 19 points and a season-high seven assists. Evan Fournier had 13 points and five rebounds. Center Dewayne Dedmon had 17 points and eight rebounds. Elfrid Payton had 11 points and 11 assists. Devon Marble, who spent much of the season in the NBA Development League, had nine points.