Then, he dashed to the basket a few times off turnovers, rebounded and scored more and in many ways, including one of those hurtling muscle-powered blasts to the basket for a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Mo Williams.

Oh oops. Oh Mo. Oh my.

Even when the Detroit Pistons put up a fight it doesn't matter.

Cleveland has James, and the Pistons don't.

James took over in the fourth quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a 79-68 win Friday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Cavaliers have a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

The apparent sweep is scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m., once again in Auburn Hills. Don't forget your tickets. Bring friends to see James. Plenty of seats should be available. Detroit's fight and interest is likely over.

Detroit fans left The Palace before the fourth quarter was over, and those from Cleveland stuck around to chant quot;MVPquot; at James.

quot;He made plays,quot; Detroit coach Michael Curry said. quot;Big-time players make plays, and that's what he did.quot;

James, 24, in his sixth season, averaged 33.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists in the first two games of the series, and then in Game 3 went after the fourth triple-double in playoff games in his still brief career. He came up one assist short as he scored 25, grabbed 11 boards and had nine assists.

But beyond the numbers, he did what his coach, Mike Brown, called flipping a switch in the fourth quarter.

quot;LeBron is a big strong man, and his skills are off the charts,quot; Brown said. quot;Once he decided to say, 'Hey, I'm not getting any calls, I'm going to will this team to a win, I'm going to will myself to the rim,' once he decided to do that, our whole team changed.

quot;I tell you right now, just watching him flip that switch was very, very exciting for me. It gives me a rush just thinking about it.quot;

It also means we can rush to judgment here. It has been relatively clear the past few years that whenever James was ready, this team would be championship bound.

He is so ready.

It was just three years ago that the Pistons fought off the younger James, 79-61 in a brutish Game 7 of a playoff series, and showed him exactly what he needed to learn.

quot;They trapped me, they went under screens, they went over screens,quot; he said that day in 2006. quot;I've seen almost every defense that I could possibly see for the rest of my career in this series.quot;

And so it was, he saw it, learned from it, and now brushes the Pistons aside. Three years later, he simply flips the switch when and if he needs it.

quot;It's not easy, can't say it's easy,quot; James said. quot;No such thing as easy once the playoffs start. Being up 3-0 is a great feeling, but it's not easy.quot;

He just made it look that way.

He also was asked if he thought he would hear quot;MVPquot; chants at The Palace.

quot;No, did I ever think I would play the Pistons without Chauncey Billups? No, I didn't,quot; James said. quot;But it happened.quot;