The Cavs look ahead to Game 4 and a sweep

Some highlights from interviews Sunday with the Cavs:

There was a lot of discussion about LeBron James' 47-point game, and the decision to let him go. Players and coach Mike Brown admitted that won't happen every game, but James was so "on" the other night they let him go.

Players also admitted that James made shots the other night that no other player can make. It takes a special combination of strength and skill that only James has.

Some of those shots he takes and makes, they're really not a textbook shot," center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. "Only he can get away with it. He has it in him."

"As a coach, the tough thing is you have to have a feel of knowing when to stay out of a person like LeBron's way, and when you have to step in and says, 'We have to do something different,"' Brown said. "Not necessarily because he's taking bad shots and missing. There's not many shots you can look at LeBron taking and say they're bad, because he makes difficult shots."

Mo Williams was asked James' strength could be put into words.

"No you can't," James said. "It's what makes him a special basketball player. They only come once in a lifetime."

Some other tidbits:

—The Hawks gave their best effort, played their best game, and were ahead of the Cavs in the third quarter. They still lost by one. How discouraging would that be to Atlanta? "That's a good question," Williams said. "That's a great question. When we're playing well we're a tough team. We seem to frustrate a few people."

—Williams got a lot of good-natured ribbing from his teammates during Game 2 when he was involved in a jump ball. The bench — including James — went nuts when Williams tied up a Hawks player, and when he won the jump the sidelines acted like they had won the lottery. Why? Williams had said during the week he was 0-for-30 in jump balls. "That was my support system," he said. "They were pumping me up."

—A lot was made — rightfully so — of James' scoring, but Brown stressed that the team's defense in the fourth quarter was just as vital. "LeBron is going to give himself or his teammates great looks almost every time down the floor," Brown said. "We just have to make sure we get stops so it doesn't put too much pressure on him getting it done by himself."

—An astounding fact from Game 3 was that the Cavs outrebounded Atlanta 46-23. Rarely does a team double an opponent's rebound total, especially in the playoffs when all the teams are good. "That was exciting," Brown said. ESPN.com's John Hollinger pointed out: "Cleveland regained (possession) 16 times off its missed shots, which is pretty amazing when you consider the Cavs hardly missed any shots, shooting 50.7 percent. The Hawks finished with a piddling 20 defensive rebounds, including five team boards, while at the other end the Cavs grabbed 34 of the Hawks' 43 misses."

—General consensus was that the Game 3 performance by James ranked among his all-time best, but did not top the 48-point performance in Detroit two years ago. "I really turned into a fan (that night)," Brown said. "There were I forgot I had to coach. I didn't quite get to that point (Saturday) night, but it was still an awesome performance. His shots were not as spectacular as the ones in Detroit. They were just good basketball plays and good basketball shots last night."

Tagged as: Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Mike Brown