Cavaliers put the beatdown in Beamtown, crush Celtics 114-91 in the battle for 1-seed

The Cavaliers made a statement Wednesday night in the battle of two teams who until now were tied for first place in the Eastern Conference.

They dominated the Boston Celtics 114-91, now the Cavs took control of the No.1 seed, and are back on top with four games to play. They also won the season series 3-1 over Boston and own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Lebron James was just dominating. he went for a game-high 36 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and an game-high +31. he played an astounding 39 minutes in the blowout, which is still too many with the playoffs fast approaching.

The Cavaliers played without starting center Tristan Thompson, who was out with a sprained right thumb. His absence ended his streak of consecutive games played at 447--the longest in team history and the longest active streak in the league.

But they made due without him, surging at the start of the second quarter and taking as much as a 29-point lead in the third quarter. They also outrebounded Boston 51-38.

Kyrie Irving had 19 points, Kevin Love added 15 points and 16 rebounds and all five Cavs' starters finished in double figures.

The Cavs flipped the switch and were beyond focused against the Celtics Wednesday night. They sent a message to the Celtics and the league.

Cavaliers' 23-point victory is their largest ever at Boston.

COMING UP FOR THE CAVS: The Cleveland Cavaliers (51-27) hosts the Atlanta Hawks (39-38) on Friday.