CLEVELAND, Nov. 2 (Ticker) -- Whatever positive feelings the New Orleans Hornets were experiencing following their season opener promptly were erased by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James nailed five of his six 3-pointers and scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half as the Cavaliers opened their campaign with a 109-87 rout of the Hornets.

NBA TV highlights from Hornets-Cavaliers: Play

The Cavaliers won their season opener for the first time since 2000.

"When you're on fire like that, you just have to keep taking them," James said. "I feel so comfortable with the guys that we have."

On Tuesday, the Hornets stunned Sacramento in their temporary home of Oklahoma City, 93-67. But they fell behind, 35-19, after one quarter Wednesday and never caught up.

"Now we know how Sacramento felt," New Orleans forward Bostjan Nachbar said. "We did not play good defense."

James scored 12 points in the opening period and added another 12 in the second quarter, all on 3-pointers. He did not miss from the arc in the half, which ended with his team holding a comfortable 66-47 margin.

"I've seen him catch five (in a row)," Cleveland forward Drew Gooden said of James' shooting exhibition. "We were going to go to (James) until the well runs dry."

"(James) is electrifying when he's out there and he's such a team player," New Orleans coach Byron Scott said.

The third-year superstar swingman finished 6-of-7 from the arc for the Cavaliers, who connected on 13-of-21 3-pointers. Cleveland shot 54 percent (37-of-69) overall.

"I think it's going to happen a lot," Cleveland guard Larry Hughes said. "When a guy gets hot, we're going to keep giving it to him until he misses."

Donyell Marshall scored 18 points off the bench and fellow offseason acquisitions Damon Jones and Hughes added 12 and 10, respectively, for the Cavaliers, who were playing their first game under coach Mike Brown.

Brown chose to focus on the Cavaliers' defensive effort.

"One of our goals is to try to hold teams below 20 points per quarter," he said. "In the fourth quarter, even with all the different combinations we had out there, guys did a heck of a job."

"Even Z (center Zydrunas Ilgauskas) took a charge today," James joked.

In each of James' first two seasons, Cleveland faded badly down the stretch and missed the playoffs.

"You can't get too excited over one game, but hopefully this is a sign of things to come over the season and we can build from there," Marshall said.

Veteran big man P.J. Brown, who collected 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets on Tuesday, scored just four points in this one. Backup guard Speedy Claxton paced the visitors with 16 points.

"We didn't come ready to play basketball, and I don't know if it's a case of just being satisfied after last night's game and still remembering that and not thinking or understanding there's another game to be played," Scott said.