PITTSBURGH - Zydrunas Ilgauskas can't wait to start the NBA season. The way the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing, it's no wonder why.

LeBron James and Ilgauskas led a third-quarter comeback and the Cavaliers rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Hawks 99-94 Thursday night.

Ilgauskas had 22 points and 10 rebounds and James and Jeff McInnis scored 16 each for the Cavaliers, who won their sixth in a row to improve to 6-1 going into their final preseason game Friday night at Toronto.

Drew Gooden, whose $4.06 million contract option for the 2005-06 season was picked up hours before the game, added 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"We've played every game but one out of town and, after a while, you're ready to start the real stuff," Ilgauskas said. "I am ready, I am. It's better to be on the winning side, and we're developing a lot of confidence in these games."

Al Harrington and Jason Collier scored 15 points each for the Hawks, but they still lost their seventh straight to finish with a 1-7 preseason record under first-year coach Mike Woodson.

There were scores of maroon-colored James jerseys in the decidedly pro-Cavaliers crowd of 9,721 at Mellon Arena, which might not host another game in any sport for the foreseeable future because of the NHL lockout that has idled the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was James' second appearance in Pittsburgh in three seasons. His Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School team played a regular-season game there in December 2002 during his senior season.