James, Cavaliers earn finals spot

CLEVELAND — The championship LeBron James craves more than any other, the one he came back home to get, is within reach after Cleveland routed Atlanta 118-88 on Tuesday to complete a series sweep and secure its place in the NBA Finals.

James scored 23 points and Kyrie Irving provided a boost after missing two games as Cleveland cruised to victory and set up a meeting with either Golden State or Houston.

It is only the second time Cavaliers have made it to the Finals, but the fifth straight visit for James, who returned to Cleveland this season after four successful years with Miami.

None of Cleveland’s top sports teams — in the NBA, NFL or MLB — have won a title since 1964. Cavaliers are four wins from ending that drought, and if they can, James will have a title that would put him in a class by himself. Other players have won more championships, but none has ever done it for his success-starved home region.

“We have everything it takes to win,” James said after Cavs were presented with the conference trophy.

However, they’ve got their eyes on more than the Eastern Conference crown.

“Cleveland,” owner Dan Gibert said, addressing the crowd. “We’re not settling for this.”

Jeff Teague scored 17 and Paul Millsap 16 for Atlanta, which won a team-record 60 games during the regular season and made the conference finals for the first time since 1970. But Hawks were no match for Cavaliers and had no answer for James, who nearly averaged a triple-double in the four games.

J.R. Smith added 18 points and Tristan Thompson had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Cavs.

Unlike 2007, when James celebrated at the final horn, he was very business-like after the clock hit zero. Standing at centre court, he turned to Smith and said “four more”.

It was a tough way for Hawks to end a remarkable season. They survived a tumultuous offseason, and their young roster gelled in January when they became the first franchise to go 17-0 in a calendar month. They went on to win 19 straight, improved their win-loss record by 22 wins over last season and beat Brooklyn and Washington in the playoffs to make their first conference finals since 1994.

But an injury to starting forward Thabo Sefolosha in April was followed by DeMarre Carroll injuring his knee in the series opener, before Kyle Korver’s season ended in Game 2 with an ankle injury.

Those all hurt, but it was James who inflicted the most pain.

James carried Cavs to their first finals appearance eight years ago, when they were swept by San Antonio. Cleveland was a heavy underdog then and it was assumed the Cavs would get back again. But James left in 2010 to join the Heat, a move that dropped Cavaliers from relevance and into the lower rungs of the standings.

His return to his home team, to play alongside Kevin Love — out for the season with a shoulder injury — and Irving immediately made Cavaliers the team to beat in the East.

It didn’t go exactly as planned under first-year coach David Blatt, who left his family in Israel to take Cavs’ job.

“We’re in Cleveland,” Blatt cracked. “Nothing is easy here.”

Cavs lost centre Anderson Varejao to a season-ending Achilles injury in December and they were 19-20 before trading for Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov, a trio that provided the intended boost.

Irving, who missed Cleveland’s previous two games with tendinitis in his left knee, scored 16 and the All-Star point guard looked better than he has in weeks.

Unlike Game 3, when he missed his first 10 shots, James started much better and scored 15 in the first half as the Cavs opened a 17-point halftime lead. They pushed it to 20 early in the third, withstood a brief rally by Hawks and spent the fourth quarter playing their reserves and getting ready for a party and some time off before the finals.