CLEVELAND -- When he published the letter, when LeBron James declared to the world he was returning to Cleveland, he did so with the intent of ending the city's half-century of misery.

Even he thought it would take longer than this.

"I couldn't foresee us being in the Finals at the beginning of the season," James said Tuesday night while wearing an NBA Finals cap. He surpassed even his own expectations.

James scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and passed for seven assists while guiding the Cavaliers past the Atlanta Hawks 118-88 Tuesday night and into the NBA Finals.

The Cavs swept the Hawks out of the Eastern Conference finals to put James into the Finals for the fifth consecutive season. Cleveland advanced to the title round for the second time in the team's 46-year history, the other being 2006-07, when a James-led squad was swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

"It's very emotional to be back in this city," James said. "When I made my decision to come back here, I knew what I wanted to do, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy. It would be the toughest task for me to get this team back to the Finals."

James and teammate James Jones become the only NBA players to appear in five straight Finals aside from Bill Russell, Satch Sanders, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, who were all part of the Boston Celtics' 1960s dynasty.

James Jones and LeBron James helped the Miami Heat reach the past four NBA Finals, winning titles in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving returned Tuesday after missing two games with tendinitis in his left knee. Irving scored 16 points and passed for five assists in 22 minutes, and he now will have more than a week to rest his ailing knee before the Finals begin on June 4 against either the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets. The Western Conference champion will have home-court advantage.

"I knew (Monday) night I was going to play," Irving said. "I knew I wasn't going to sit on the bench and watch our guys go through a closeout game. I wanted to be part of this game and this Eastern Conference championship."

Game 4 wasn't so much a contest as it was 48 minutes of victory laps for a city that hasn't celebrated a major sports championship in 51 years.

James' soaring dunk from just inside the free-throw line forced the Hawks to call a timeout 90 seconds into the game. James used the break to strut down the sideline and baseline on his way back to the bench, imploring fans to stand and cheer. They did for most of the evening while guys like guard Iman Shumpert, forward Tristan Thompson and guard J.R. Smith took turns playing to the crowd at various moments over the final three quarters.

Smith had 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, Thompson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and center Timofey Mozgov finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Cavs.

The lead never dropped below double figures after Cleveland pushed it to 20 in the second quarter, and it swelled to 31 in the fourth quarter.

"We're not settling for this," owner Dan Gilbert told the capacity crowd as confetti dropped from the ceiling. "We want to take this thing the full way."

It was a long, painful journey back to the top of the East following James' departure for Miami in 2010. The Cavs celebrated more lottery victories than important game victories during his four years away. They compiled the league's worst record during his absence, spending the time stockpiling young players and trade assets in anticipation of this moment.

James returned home last summer, the Cavs bundled some of their young talent and picks for forward Kevin Love, then withstood Love's early exit from this postseason and the December loss of starting center Anderson Varejao to win the East without them.

Atlanta guard Jeff Teague sc