BOSTON — LeBron James had 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, Mo Williams scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers surged past the Boston Celtics 108-88 on Thursday night.
James kept the Cavaliers in it for three quarters on a night they lost Shaquille O’Neal to a first-half thumb injury, then Williams made four 3-pointers when Cleveland blew by the Celtics in the fourth, outscoring them 35-14.
Unable to stop Rajon Rondo or the Celtics in the first quarter, the Cavaliers turned up the defense in the fourth, limiting the Celtics to three baskets.
Ray Allen scored 21 points, and Rondo had 19 points and 11 assists for the Celtics, who badly missed injured all-star Paul Pierce (right thumb) when their offense went stagnant in the final 1 1/2 quarters.
Cleveland improved to 20-10 on the road, tying Boston for the best in the NBA, and avenged a 95-89 home loss on opening night.
That came back when Boston looked like the class of the Eastern Conference while the Cavaliers struggled early. But the Celtics have been unable to stay healthy and Cleveland has left the Celtics and everyone else in the East behind, opening a 5 1/2-game lead over Orlando while dropping Boston 7 1/2 games back in a tie with Atlanta.
