Los Angeles - It's not supposed to be this easy, especially in the playoffs, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are having a blast blowing out their opponents.

Newly-crowned NBA MVP LeBron James scored 27 points, and the Cavaliers pounded the injury-depleted Atlanta Hawks 105-85 on Thursday night, to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

"We got a 2-0 lead, but the series isn't won in two games," James said. "Game Three is going to be fun."

Cleveland travels to Atlanta for the next two games when-the-best of-seven series resumes on Saturday.

"We are a confident ballclub, we believe we can win on the road as well as at home," James said. "It will be a hostile environment, those fans are unbelievable for them, but we can't wait to go down to their arena."

With their latest domination, the top-seeded Cavs have won all six playoff games by an average of 18 points, including 23.5 over the Hawks in both demolitions.

Is James surprised how easily the Cavs are dominating their opponents?

"I wouldn't say surprised, I just think we're a really good team," he said. "We're not overconfident but we believe in each other as individuals and we believe in each other as a team.

"We don't go into a game and say let's win by 20 or let's win by double digits," he continued. "We go into a game saying let's just execute, let's take one possession at a time and let's try to get better."

Wally Szcerbiak scored 17 points, Mo Williams had 15 and Delonte West finished with 12 before leaving in the second half after getting poked in the eye for Cleveland, which won the opener 99-72 following a nine-day layoff.

Maurice Evans scored 16 points, and Mike Bibby had 11 for Atlanta, which played without starting centre Al Horford (ankle) and forward Marvin Williams (wrist).

"When you're missing pieces it makes it a little tougher, but I'm not using that as an excuse," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "Normally we respond when guys are out, but we just didn't get it done tonight."

Woodson said it's was a combination of reasons.

"We're not playing well right now, and they're playing at a high level," he said. "But we have a chance to go back home, regroup in front of our fans and see what we're made of."

To make matters worse, the Hawks lost All-Star Joe Johnson to a right ankle sprain in the third quarter. Though X-rays were negative, their leading scorer left the building on crutches, and is doubtful for Saturday's contest.

Similar to their other blowouts, the Cavs wasted little time taking the upper hand. They jumped ahead 26-17 after one, and doubled their guests, 36-18 in the second frame to take a commanding 59-35 halftime cushion.

James ended it in spectacular fashion, drilling a buzzer-beating 36-footer from just inside mid-court stripe to send the 20,000 fans at sold out Quicken Loan Arena into a frenzy.

"Anytime you hit a big shot like that at the end of the half, it's a big lift for us, absolutely," he said. "It demoralized them because of where I shot the ball from, and we carried that momentum into the second half."

Cleveland continued its assault, opening up an 83-47 cushion. Ahead 85-55 entering the final frame, James and the starters watched from the bench as the Hawks' reserves outplayed the Cavs' substitutes to make the final score respectable.

"Defence," James said when asked how the Cavs dominated. "That has been us throughout the whole series and the whole playoffs. When we get D stops it's easy to execute on offence."

Around the league: Starting point guards Rafer Alston of the Orlando Magic, and Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers were each suspended one-game without pay for their roles in separate occasions on Wednesday night, NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson announced.

Alston was punished for slapping Boston's Eddie House in the back of the head as the sharpshooter headed up court after making a basket with 48.6 seconds left in the third period of the Celtics' 112-94 rout of the visiting Magic in Game Two of their Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.

Fisher was whistled for a flagrant foul penalty two and ejected after flooring Houston's Luis Scola with a high elbow, while trying to fight through a pick with 13.2 seconds remaining in the third period of the Lakers' 111-98 home-court victory in Game Two of their Western Conference semifinals.

Both will sit out Game Three on Friday with each series squared at one-game apiece.