CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) – LeBron James showed why he is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on Tuesday, scoring 34 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a crushing 99-72 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in their Eastern Conference semi-final opener.
James, who beat the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat for the MVP honour on Monday, also had 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists as the well-rested Cavaliers turned around an early five-point deficit.
“It was unbelievable how sharp we were,” James told reporters.
The All-Star forward had 16 of his points in the first quarter, which helped the NBA’s top regular-season team a lead that was never threatened.
“I felt good in warmups and felt good all day, honestly,” said James, who displayed his MVP trophy to cheering fans during a pre-game presentation with NBA Commissioner David Stern.
“I didn’t want to settle, I wanted to get a good flow for us on the offensive end.”
Leading 49-44 at halftime, Cleve-land turned up the pressure, outscoring the Hawks 50-28. The visitors scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Mo Williams added 21 points and Delonte West had 13 for the Cavaliers, who host Game Two today.
Josh Smith had 22 points for Atlanta and Mike Bibby contributed 19.
“We competed for a half, but that wasn’t good enough,” said Hawks coach Mike Woodson.
Cleveland had not played since April 26 after sweeping the Detroit Pistons 4-0 in the opening round of the playoffs.
Atlanta was taken to a deciding Game Seven by the Miami Heat before winning the series 4-3 on Sunday.
