BOSTON — Rookie Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and Al Horford had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-83 on Wednesday night and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics remained perfect in Boston this postseason with their 10th straight victory at home and moved within one win of their first trip to the NBA finals since 2010.

Game 6 is in Cleveland on Friday night, with the seventh game back in Boston on Sunday if necessary.

The home team has won every game so far in the series, and none has been closer than nine points.

LeBron James had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Love scored 14 for the Cavaliers, who are trying to reach the finals for the fourth consecutive season.

James has played to the end in seven straight seasons.

Boston’s Marcus Morris and Cleveland’s Larry Nance Jr. had to be pulled apart after a hard defensive play by Morris sent Nance to the floor in the first half.

Morris and Nance both went up for a pass, and the Cavaliers forward wound up crashing into the first row of seats. Morris appeared to wander over and say something, prompting Nance to jump up and body-check him; Morris responded with a one-handed shove to the face.

Aron Baynes and Jaylen Brown came in to break it up, and Terry Rozier put a body on Nance. After a review, the referees called technicals on Rozier, Nance and Morris. Korver made the foul shot to make it 36-20 and spark a 7-0 run.


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