MVP performance| LeBron scores 34 for Cavs

May 6, 2009 at 12:10a.m.

By BILL LIVINGSTON

Mo Williams added 21 points as Cleveland won the series opener over Atlanta, 99-72.

CLEVELAND — Before the game earned him millions and made him a global icon, it was the focus of LeBron James’ pride and the source of his joy. He loved basketball the way the city and its suburbs have embraced him and his Cavaliers team.

On the night when he received his Most Valuable Player trophy, there was no way James was going to disappoint his fans at The Q or dishonor the game to which he has devoted so much.

“I know you’ve been tired of wondering who we’re going to play and tired of waiting around, because I’m ready to get back on the court too,” he said, his words tinny sounding and faintly heard in the bedlam after NBA commissioner David Stern handed him the MVP trophy in a pre-game ceremony Tuesday night.

James would score 34 points on only 20 shots with 10 rebounds in the Cavs’ 99-72 rout of Atlanta in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals, making sure no one left unhappy on his special night.

Most of the fans were clad in complimentary black T-shirts draped on every seat before the game, proclaiming in white letters “Witness” with “MVP” in gold. It was stark proof, in black and white, of the love affair between a city and a team in a glittering season.

James usually involves his teammates in the early going, but he had to score quickly because the Cavs fell behind quicker, 11-4. He scored 16 points on only six shots in the opening quarter.

He dunked his first shot, drove and laid in his second, and hit a 3-pointer. He seemingly got to every loose ball, whether in a scrum on the floor or as it bounced around after a miss.

It was as if what we were witnessing was exactly what Atlanta coach Mike Woodson had said it was. And that, he said in a pre-game interview, was a combination of youth, strength, fundamentals and skill the likes of which he had never seen, particularly at James’ age, 24.

Once, James raced downcourt after Joe Johnson hoisted a missed 3-pointer, put his most valuable butt into Maurice Evans, took a halfcourt-length bounce pass, and spun up a leaping finger-roll as Evans simply bear-hugged James around the waist and held on for dear life.

It was quite a show, but Atlanta was not going away. The Cavs led only 49-44 at halftime.

The Hawks had taken away James’ passing. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was ineffective on the pick-and-pop and James was looking to carry the scoring burden himself. But passing is the symbol of much about James’ game — the court vision, ambidexterity and buggy-whip wrists.

It is the very emblem of his unselfish concept of how to play the game.