LeBron James scores 23 points as Cavaliers complete sweep of Hawks
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Version 0 of 1. CLEVELAND — LeBron James only needed three quarters to complete his task Tuesday night, but he was in no mood to sit as the final 12 minutes of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ series-clinching, 118-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks played out. James had to stand and admire what he had returned home to build, hopping up and down to celebrate every ridiculous fallaway jumper by J.R. Smith, a put-back dunk by Timofey Mozgov, a friendly-bounce jump hook by Kendrick Perkins or a nifty ball fake by Joe Harris. The raucous fans, draped in bright yellow T-shirts, erupted with each basket and they had earned the right to gloat and get lost in the euphoria of a dominating sweep of the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland waited eight years to experience the feeling again and suffered through four years of watching James find success in Miami. They’ve come together and the reunion couldn’t have been sweeter. With about five minutes left, Quicken Loans Arena was filled with chants of “N-B-A Finals!” “It’s emotional. It’s very emotional,” James said. “To be back in the city. When I made my decision to be here, I knew what I wanted to do. And I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. . . . For us to be sitting at this point today, being able to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals, is special.” James and the Cavaliers are four wins short of the first championship since the franchise was created in 1970 and the first title of any kind in the city since Jim Brown and the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964. The team that is heading to the NBA Finals doesn’t resemble the group that James signed back with in July, or the group that showed up for training camp. The Cavaliers entered with high expectations because of the all-star grouping of James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving but sputtered for two months until Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin made two season-altering deals, raiding lottery teams in New York and Denver, respectively, for two sharpshooting wing players and a defensive anchor at center. But the transformation continued through the postseason as James put together arguably his most impressive performance, coming three assists shy of averaging a triple-double over the four games and carrying a hobbled roster and a rookie NBA coach with plenty of international success in David Blatt. “I knew I was going to have to be patient,” James said. “We have everything it takes to win. We have grit, we have determination and we have a willingness to want to be great.” James had 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in just 29 minutes and became the first player in NBA history to reach five consecutive Finals on two teams. He did it by dispatching his second 60-win team in the process. This postseason has served as a reminder of James’s ability to flex his individual gifts but also lift up the players around him. By this series, Love was done for the season after having surgery to repair a separated shoulder and Irving was at less than full strength with tendinitis in his left knee. Irving missed two games in the series but returned Tuesday seeking to gain some confidence in his knee before the Finals. Though he didn’t have his usual explosiveness, Irving was effective as he scored 16 points in 21 minutes. Smith, a Knicks castoff, had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Mozgov had 14 points and seven rebounds. The Hawks’ best season in 45 years ended with a whimper as they meekly gave in to an overwhelming tide of injuries and unfortunate breaks. All-star point guard Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 17 points and Paul Millsap had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Perhaps the only downside to the domination of the Hawks is that the past two teams to sweep the conference finals — New Jersey in 2003 and San Antonio in 2013 — both ended up losing in the Finals. But that’s the least of concerns for Cleveland, with eight days of rest to get ready for either Golden State or Houston, and a stage they’d hoped for from the moment it was able to choose James in 2003 — and the moment he chose Cleveland last July. “If he wants to lead us,” Blatt said of James, “then we want to keep going.” More coverage: Box score: Cavaliers 118, Hawks 88 Is LeBron James’s legacy on the line? James thinks Stephen Curry ‘lucked out’ in terrifying fall John Wall season in review, concludes on a sour note David Aldridge suggests Wizards take a run at Kevin Love Leonsis hopes to have Wizards practice facility chosen soon |