Celtics beat Cavs, go up 2-0

BOSTON | Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland.

Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points, helping the Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

One game after going two for 18 from the field and missing his last six shots, including a layup that would have tied the game with 8.5 seconds left, James missed his first three tries and finished with 21 points on six-for-24 shooting.

This time it was contagious: The Cavaliers shot 35.6 percent in the game, hitting just 11.8 percent in the second quarter as Boston turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead.

Game three is Saturday night in Cleveland. The Cavaliers will need their crowd to pull them out of their funk because the Celtics are 6-0 in the playoffs in Boston, and they would have the homecourt advantage through the NBA finals.

James — who was serenaded by the fans with a chant of “Over-rated!” — could benefit most of all.

He went three for eight from the field in the first quarter but went one for 11 over the second and third when Boston took control.

From early in the second quarter to early in the third, a span of 13:41, Boston outscored Cleveland 36-10.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points for the Cavaliers.

Cleveland reserve Anderson Varejao had 10 rebounds in 32 minutes after forward Ben Wallace went to the locker room just 3:40 into the game due to dizziness. He sat on the bench for the second quarter and took some shots during halftime warmups, but did not return to the game.

Pierce (two for 14 in the first game) and Allen (zero for four in the first game) snapped out of whatever ailed them. Pierce did it right away, with seven points in the first quarter, but Allen took a little more time.

He missed his first four shots Thursday, but from there he was four for six.

San Antonio 110, New Orleans 99

Hornets lead series 2-1

SAN ANTONIO | Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both scored 31 points as San Antonio took game three of the Western Conference semifinals.

Chris Paul led the Hornets, who still hold a 2-1 series lead, with 35 points and nine assists. David West had 23 points.