Basketball On The Internet.

IT was a whitewash, a massacre, a party today in Cleveland as LeBron James led his Cavaliers back to the Promised Land and into the franchise's second NBA Championship Series and first since 2007.

The 118-88 Game 4 rout of the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks completed the 4-0 sweep and gave the Cavs the Eastern Conference title, James with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 29 minutes.

He had plenty of time to enjoy what he started with his aggressive opening, which included an empathic early transition slam and an array of assists to get his teammates going.

Kyrie Irving (knee tendinitis) resumed his starting role and opened with a floater and a three, en route to 16 points and five assists in 22 minutes.

When he went out and Matthew Dellavedova came in, the crowd chanted "Delly" in a roar of approval and support from a blue-collar city for a blue-collar guy.

It sent shivers down the spine and the chant was soon "Delly Trey" as he stuck a triple, then immediately drew an offensive foul from a petulant Jeff Teague.

NOT quite the Delly Trey, more the deli tray...

Tristan Thompson again was terrific with 16 points at 75 per cent and 11 rebounds, his basket to close the first quarter and give the Cavaliers a 32-20 lead simply classic.

Cleveland won every quarter, had six guys in double figures, while Delly finished with 10 points, including a fourth-quarter three-point play that had King James dancing and-a prancing with joy on the sidelines.

With his left arm pinned, Delly caught an offensive rebound in the key on his right hand and flipped it back in, adding the bonus free throw for the foul while the Cavs and the crowd went crazy.

Coach David Blatt, in his rookie season now through to the Finals, had the luxury of unleashing the guys deepest in his bench for an extended last quarter run.

Then again, Shawn Marion (Dallas Mavericks), Mike Miller (Miami Heat) and Kendrick Perkins (Boston Celtics) all are Championship-winners at previous destinations so the intensity that turned Hawks into Doves should have been of no surprise.

After the disparaging rubbish churned out by some of the Hawks post Game 3 re the so-called Dellavedova-Al Horford "incident" - created entirely by Horford - it was almost as if Atlanta was steamrolled by the Karma-bus.

Horford had two points, Kent Bazemore and Shelvin Mack both off their games too. Paul Millsap had a 16-point, 10-rebound double and Teague made it to 17 points as even Dellavedova's biggest Game 3 critic, commentator Reggie Miller, suddenly found reasons to admire his tenacity.

With Cleveland through to the Finals, Golden State - and its Aussie centre Andrew Bogut - only needs one more win in its Western Conference Final against Houston to advance to meet the Cavs for the crown.

That would guarantee Australia of having an NBA Champion for the second year in succession, which hasn't been done since Luc Longley won three-in-a-row with Chicago Bulls circa 1996-98.

But where Luc was a starter on a memorable Bulls team, last year we had Patty Mills and Aron Baynes winning at San Antonio Spurs and now we have Dellavedova a chance with the Cavs and, hopefully, Bogut a shot with the Warriors.

That's if they win Game 5 tomorrow at Oracle Arena in Oakland, ahead 3-1 and probably wondering - like most of us - whether the Rockets' superb Game 4 home win was their last hurrah, or the start of a revival similar to the one which sent the Clippers prematurely into mothballs.