ATLANTA — When LeBron James has one of those nights, everyone else turns into fans.

His teammates? Yep. Even his coach.

"I try as much as possible," Cleveland's Mike Brown said yesterday, "to stay out of the way."

With one of his best performances ever, James carried the Cavaliers to the brink of another playoff sweep. The Atlanta Hawks sure know what they're up against, having watched their most inspired showing of the series turn into just another 97-82 loss by the MVP's 47 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on Saturday.

"Right now, he's playing at such a high level," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson, sounding a bit disheartened as his team heads into Game 4 tonight.

"Man, it's crazy how good he's playing," he added. "It really is."

James has that look Michael Jordan used to bring out at playoff time, a steely eyed determination to win a championship no matter what's in the way. If that means taking every big shot, so be it. If that means turning the game into me against them, well, that's the way it has to be.

James has played 108 minutes in this series — and scored 108 points.

As Brown said, stay out of the way.

"He is making so many special plays," teammate Mo Williams said. "We just try to give him some space."

ROCKETS

YAO OPTIMISTIC ON INJURY

Yao Ming has been here before.

Sitting at a microphone, discussing an injury and the premature end to a Houston Rockets season.

But this wasn't the teary-eyed and downtrodden 7-foot-6 Yao who appeared at last year's announcement that his season was over.

This Yao was upbeat and optimistic, smiling and even cracking jokes a day after learning he'll miss Houston's playoff run with a hairline fracture in his left foot.

The Rockets said Yao will need 8-12 weeks to recover.

"It's frustrating, but you have to be positive because it is already better than last year," he said yesterday.

Yao's sunny attitude was likely because this injury came in May, three months later than in 2008, and is less severe than that one, which required surgery.

"I think I've been in harder situations before, much harder than this one," he said. "I believe that I can get through this one too."

The seven-time All-Star has missed chunks of time with injuries in each of the last four seasons, and his left foot has given him the most trouble. He broke it the first time with just four games left in the 2005-06 season.

He missed 32 games the following season with a fracture in his right leg, near his knee, then suffered a stress fracture in his left foot in February 2008, midway through the Rockets' 22-game winning streak. He missed the playoffs and Houston lost to Utah in the first round.

MAVERICKS

NO LOOKING BACK ON PLAY

Still grumpy about how Game 3 finished, and groggy from the practically sleepless night that followed, the Dallas Mavericks got together yesterday to watch some film.

Guess what clip coach Rick Carlisle didn't show?

As much as they don't want to see the play, it's one they'll all remember: Antoine Wright bumping Carmelo Anthony in an obvious attempt to draw a foul, then bumping him again, yet failing to get rung up either time at the end of a game during which the officials had no trouble blowing their whistles. Anthony wound up swishing a 3-pointer with 1 second left, taking the Denver Nuggets from two points down to one point ahead, 106-105, and a commanding 3-0 lead in this second-round series that continues today.

"We're not going to get that last play back, so just by watching it doesn't do us any good," Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki said.