Cavaliers, Nets resume series in New Jersey

Game 4 of this best-of-seven series is scheduled for Monday at Continental Airlines Arena.

Cleveland took care of business in Games 1 and 2 at Quicken Loans Arena. In the opener, LeBron James finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Cavaliers picked up an 81-77 win over New Jersey.

James was the star once again in Game 2, as he registered 36 points and 12 assists to lead the Cavaliers to a 102-92 victory over the Nets at Quicken Loans Arena. With the victory, Cleveland remained undefeated (6-0) in this year’s postseason.

Sasha Pavlovic contributed 17 points in Game 2 for Cleveland, which won its 10th straight game going back to the regular season. Drew Gooden was a force inside with 10 points and 14 rebounds, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points and nine boards for the Cavaliers, who outrebounded the Nets, 49-32, in the victory.

Vince Carter ended with 26 points in Game 2’s loss for the Nets, who did shoot an impressive 52.3 percent from the field. Jason Kidd ended with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but also had eight of New Jersey’s 17 turnovers. Richard Jefferson finished with 22 points and eight boards in defeat.

Carter is averaging 23.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists against the Cavaliers, while Kidd has posted 12.0 points, 10.0 boards and 8.5 assists in the semis.

The Nets have never comeback to win a playoff series after losing the first two games of the set. New Jersey has dropped three of its last four Game 3s in the postseason.

Cleveland has never dropped a series in the postseason when it wins the first two games of the set. The Cavaliers have won four straight Game 3s in the playoffs.

This is the third time the Cavaliers and New Jersey are meeting in the postseason. Cleveland defeated the Nets twice in the first round. The Cavs knocked out the Nets in four, 3-1, in 1992 and in five, 3-2, in 1993.

The Cavaliers swept the seventh-seeded Washington Wizards in the opening round of the postseason. Cleveland is 2-2 all-time in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Cavaliers defeated Washington in seven games in 1976 and beat the Celtics in seven in 1992. They were swept by the Bulls in 1993 and lost in seven to Detroit last year.

New Jersey knocked out the third-seeded Toronto Raptors, who won the Atlantic Division during the regular season, in six games in the first round. The Nets have lost their last two trips to the Eastern Conference semifinals. They were ousted in seven by Detroit in 2004 and in five by Miami last season.

The Nets are 2-3 all-time in the East semis. New Jersey, which lost to Milwaukee, 4-2, in the 1984 East semis, did defeat the Charlotte Hornets, 4-1, in the 2002 semifinals and the Celtics, 4-0, in 2003. The Nets are 2-0 in the conference finals and 0-2 in the NBA Finals.