Cavaliers swoop on Hawks as LeBron James leads 4-0 demolition

The Cleveland Cavaliers will play for their success-starved city’s maiden NBA title after sweeping the Atlanta Hawks.

The Cavaliers, led by LeBron James’ 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, demolished the Hawks 118-88 yesterday to take the Eastern Conference Finals 4-0 and move on to the NBA Championship series.

The Cavaliers have never won an NBA title and the city hasn’t celebrated a major sporting title since the Cleveland Browns won the National Football League title in 1964.

Yesterday’s emphatic win equalled the biggest margin of victory in Cavaliers’ play-off history as they returned to the Finals for the first time since 2007.

“We have worked our tail off all season to get to this point and to be able to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals is the ultimate, especially in this city,” said James.

Australian point guard Matthew Dellavedova, after being labelled a dirty player by some, received a cult hero’s “Delly” chant from his home crowd each time he entered the game or took a free throw and was a key contributor with his tough defence.

He finished with 10 points from 16 minutes on the court.

Dellavedova said the rugged series against the Hawks had brought the team together and they were looking forward to moving on to the Finals against either fellow Australian Andrew Bogut’s Golden State Warriors or the Houston Rockets.

Golden State leads that Western Conference series 3-1.

“We have been through some adversity now and we’ve got tighter and tighter as a team so we’ll rest up and get ready to go,” Dellavedova said.

The point guard from Maryborough in country Victoria had been at the centre of raging debate in the US media after three recent moments when his hard-hustling style riled opponents, with two ejected.

In the semifinal series against the Chicago Bulls, Dellavedova was involved in a heated incident with Bulls forward Taj Gibson.

Then he was criticised after his dive for a loose ball left Atlanta guard Kyle Korver injured and later in the series Hawks centre Al Horford was ejected after a tangle with him.

Dellavedova said he didn’t let the attention get to him.

“I have great teammates and great family and friends,” he said.

“I appreciate the support of the fans here and it’s a great place to play.”

The last quarter yesterday was a party on the bench for the Cavaliers as James, Dellavedova, Kyrie Irving and other teammates laughed, cheered and exchanged high fives as their reserves finished off the deflated Hawks.

Dellavedova didn’t pull back on his usual aggressive defence and rival point guard Jeff Teague could be seen verbally jousting with him.

Teague top-scored with 17 points for his team, while forward Paul Millsap had 16 points and 10 rebounds.