CLEVELAND — LeBron James secured his fifth straight trip to the N.B.A. finals on Tuesday night, extending a storybook season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his hometown team, with whom he reunited this season after a four-year separation.
That James returned older, wiser and more assured of his immense talents after four trips to the finals with the Miami Heat — and two championship rings — was never more apparent than in this Eastern Conference finals series against the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks.
It was a four-game sweep, with James carrying a bruised Cavaliers team on his own weary shoulders through the first three games, averaging 32.