ATLANTA: Cleveland’s LeBron James, complemented by a sharp-shooting J.R. Smith, led the Cavaliers to a valuable road victory in the opening game of the NHL Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday, beating Atlanta 97-89.

While James led Cleveland with 31 points, it was Smith who ignited the Cavaliers, making eight 3-pointers and scoring 28 points.

“When he gets hot,” Cleveland coach David Blatt marveled, “he gets smoking hot.”

Intent on bringing Cleveland its first NBA title, James sealed the victory with a soaring dunk in the final minute.

For the Hawks, it was the second straight series in which they’ve lost the opening game at home. Cleveland will look to take command of the series in Game 2 on Friday.

Making matters worse for Atlanta, DeMarre Carroll went down with a knee injury with 4:59 remaining. He will undergo an MRI scan on Thursday to determine the seriousness.

Besides being the main defender on James, Carroll had been the Hawks’ leading scorer in the playoffs. He was averaging more than 17 points coming into Atlanta’s first conference final.

“DeMarre is a complete player,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He has a big impact at both ends of the court.”

Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 27 points. But Atlanta didn’t produce its usual balanced scoring, as two starters — Kyle Korver and Carroll — failed to reach double figures.

With Smith doing most of the damage, Cleveland outscored the Hawks 22-4 over the final 5 minutes of the third quarter and the first 2 minutes of the fourth. During that span, he made five 3-pointers and another jumper from just inside the arc, as well as throwing up a lob that Tristan Thompson dunked.

Smith has been a huge addition for the Cavaliers since he was acquired in January as part of a three-team trade with New York and Oklahoma City. A player once known for his selfishness, he had learned to work with within the confines of a team led by James.

“Once I start shooting,” Smith said, “everybody keeps telling me to keep shooting.”

Cleveland scored the first 11 points of the final period — all but two on 3s by Smith — for its biggest lead, 85-67.

Carroll’s injury silenced the raucous crowd and would be a tough blow for the Hawks to overcome. While he was being taken off, James came over to say a few words and pat the injured player on the head.

“We’re all a brotherhood,” James said. “You don’t want anybody to get hurt like that.”

Even without Carroll, Atlanta closed to 91-87 with about a minute remaining. But James got loose from Paul Millsap out near the arc, took off down the lane uncontested and slammed home a dunk that finished off the Hawks.

Curry and James headline All-NBA selections

Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James headlined the list of players selected for the All-NBA team, the league said on Thursday.

James Harden of the Houston Rockets, Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans and Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies joined Curry and James on the first team.

Point guard Curry, a briliant three-point shooter who helped the Warriors win a franchise-record 67 games by averaging 23.8 points and 7.7 assists during the regular season, earned first team honors for the first time.

James, who ranked third in the league in scoring (25.3 points per game) and seventh in assists (7.4), was chosen for the ninth time in 12 seasons, putting him joint third with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson in the all-time list.

Harden, who finished second in the NBA in scoring (27.4 points per game), earned his second consecutive first team selection while Davis and Gasol both got the nod for a first time.

The second team consisted of Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Chicago’s Pau Gasol and DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings.

Third team members were Golden State’s Klay Thompson, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers, and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan.

The teams were selected by a panel of 129 journalists in the United States and Canada.