The Cleveland Cavaliers were in need of a hot hand in the key moments of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Atlanta Hawks.

They had the right guy available to provide it in the form of a former NBA Sixth Man of the Year. J.R. Smith lived up to that billing with 28 points in a Game 1 win.

The history

This marked the first time in 15 tries that the Cavaliers won Game 1 on the road in a playoff series.

LeBron James finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists. It’s the 52nd time in his career that he had at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists in a playoff game. That breaks Michael Jordan’s record for the most such games all-time.

Difference-maker: J.R. Smith

This was the kind of game the Cavaliers were hoping for when they obtained Smith from the Knicks at midseason.

Smith set a Cavaliers postseason single-game record with eight 3-pointers and finished with 28 points. He was 10-of-16 from the field. The Cavaliers’ other reserves combined to go 0-for-9 and did not score. Smith also outscored the Hawks' reserves, who combined for 19 points.

Smith's eight 3-pointers are the second-most in NBA playoff history by a player who did not start the game. Jason Terry had nine for the Dallas Mavericks in a 2011 game.

Smith scored 17 of the Cavaliers' final 32 points. He was 6-for-9 from the field in the final 15 minutes. The other Cavaliers were a combined 4-of-16.

Only one James teammate scored more points than that off the bench in a playoff game. Daniel Gibson had 31 points against the Pistons in 2007.

James and Smith combined to take 42 of the Cavaliers’ 84 shots. James improved to 12-1 in his playoff career when a teammate scored at least 20 points off the bench.

Injury impact: DeMarre Carroll

The Hawks suffered a key loss when DeMarre Carroll left the game with a sprained knee late in the fourth quarter. Carroll has been the Hawks' leading scorer six times this postseason.

The Hawks have been far better offensively with Carroll on the court this postseason, averaging 105.1 points per 100 possessions when he was part of the offense. They’ve averaged 92.6 points per 100 possessions with Carroll off the court.

Carroll is also the Hawks' key player when it comes to guarding James.

James is 8-for-26 when being played by Carroll this season (including 5-of-11 in Game 1). Atlanta may have provided their plan going forward, when in the fourth quarter when they used Paul Millsap and Al Horford against James.

James was 3-for-9 for seven points when guarded by those two players.

What does it mean?

Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series go on to win the series 77 percent of the time.

The Hawks are 2-24 when they lose Game 1 of a best-of-seven series. One of the wins came this season against the Wizards.

According to the Basketball Power Index, the Cavaliers opened the series with a 62 percent chance of winning it. That increased to 79 percent with their Game 1 win.