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James, Cavs welcome Celtics to the "Q"

Sun 14th, March 2010

(Sports Network) - A pair of Eastern Conference heavyweights clash Sunday afternoon as LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers play host to the Boston Celtics.

James returned to the Cavaliers lineup Friday in Philadelphia after missing a pair of games with a balky right ankle and scored 23 points as Cleveland pulled out a tough 100-95 decision over the 76ers.

"The King" also handed out 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who went 1-1 in his absence.

Mo Williams chipped in 21 and Delonte West scored 17 points, while fellow reserve Anderson Varejao had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs, who have won eight of their last nine games.

"We executed defensively the right way," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown. "LeBron did a nice job trying to attack to get to the free throw line down the stretch. More importantly, defensively, we got stops at the right time."

Forward Antawn Jamison missed the game against the Sixers due to a cyst behind his left knee but hopes to return to the lineup this afternoon.

The Celtics, meanwhile, are coming off a blowout win over Indiana. Paul Pierce scored 20 to lead a balanced attack in that one, as Boston got back to its winning ways with a 122-103 rout of the lowly Pacers in Beantown.

Rajon Rondo added 16 points and 11 assists for the Celtics, who had lost two straight overall, in addition to eight of their last 15 games at home. Boston, which went 35-6 at TD Garden in each of the past two seasons, improved to just 19-12 as the host in 2009-10.

"(We) were stung the other night (in a 20-point loss to Memphis), but also I warned them going into tonight: just because you want to fix it if things don't start out right, you can't hang your head or panic about it," said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. "The difference (Friday) was we hung in there and we got some stops. And then we got on a run."

Nate Robinson and Glen Davis each came off the bench to score 15, and Ray Allen poured in 13 points in the win. Kendrick Perkins provided 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Cavs had won 11 straight at home against Boston - including the playoffs -- before dropping a 95-89 decision on Oct. 27. Cleveland then responded to even the season series with a 108-88 blowout win in Beantown on Feb. 25.

Overall, the Cavs are tops in the Eastern Conference while Boston has fallen to fourth and has been playing .500 ball (18-18) since Christmas.