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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 10, 2009

James leads Cavaliers' rout for 3-0 lead in Eastern semi


By PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Cleveland's LeBron James runs over Atlanta's Joe Johnson during the third quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals in Atlanta.

JOHN BAZEMORE | Associated Press

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ATLANTA — LeBron James had that unstoppable feeling.

Everyone get out of the way. Time for him to do something really special.

As if being the league's MVP wasn't enough, James scored 47 points in his best performance yet of these playoffs, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the brink of their second straight postseason sweep with a 97-82 victory over the Atlanta Hawks last night.

"It's unexplainable, honestly," James said after carrying Cleveland to a 3-0 lead in the series. "There's only a few guys in this league that can get into a zone like that, and I'm blessed to have the ability to be one of those guys.

"You just feel like you can make pretty much every shot you take."

He'll get no argument from the Hawks, who put up their best fight of the series and still find themselves just one loss away from calling it a season.

"LeBron was just out of his mind tonight," Atlanta's Josh Smith said.

Cleveland kept up its dominating run through the playoffs, setting an NBA record with its seventh straight double-figure win to eclipse the mark set by the 2004 Indiana Pacers. The only solace for the Hawks: They stopped the Cavaliers' streak of 20-point playoff wins at three, including a pair of routs in Cleveland.

The Hawks were only down 47-46 at the halftime, and they surged back into their first second-half lead of the series with a 13-0 run in the third quarter. But Zaza Pachulia got ejected for arguing a foul call — acting as though he might attack the officials — and Atlanta faded away down the stretch.

"He's not the MVP for nothing," Pachulia said. "He's the best player in the league. He knows when to push the gas. That's what he did."