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NBA: Cleveland 74, Boston 69

CLEVELAND (UPI) -- A one-man show by LeBron James Friday lifted Cleveland to a 74-69 win over Boston and forced a deciding game in their Eastern Conference Semifinal series.

James scored 32 points in a brutal defensive battle, pulled down 12 rebounds and made 13 of 15 free-throw attempts.

Even so, Boston trailed by only five and had the ball as the clock ticked under a minute to play in the game. The Celtics' hopes for a comeback were all but wiped out, however, when Paul Pierce was called for charging with 49.9 seconds to go.

Ray Allen managed to cut Boston's deficit to 72-69 on two free throws with 23.4 seconds to play, but Wally Szczerbiak restored Cleveland's five-point cushion by making two foul shots with 14.4 seconds remaining.

Boston almost threw the ball away on its next possession and was never able to get off a good shot.

Neither team could shoot 40 percent from the field and Cleveland won despite hitting just 32.9 percent of its attempts.

Other than James, the only Cleveland player to reach double figures in scoring was Delonte West with 10.

Boston was led by Kevin Garnett with 25.

Game 7 is set for Sunday in Boston.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 05/17/2008

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