Hawks at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers keep knocking off Atlanta in the postseason and
look to do it for the 10th consecutive time when they host the Hawks in
Wednesday's Game 2. Cleveland continued its playoff mastery of Atlanta
with a 104-93 series-opening victory on Monday as it held the Hawks to
37.9 percent shooting from the field.
The Cavaliers let an 18-point third-quarter lead get away in Game 1 but outclassed Atlanta down the stretch to deal the Hawks another loss. "They're a great team," Atlanta shooting guard Kyle Korver told reporters. "They beat a lot of people. It's not just us. Are we getting closer to getting over the hump? I don't know. ... We definitely got to get that win first." Cleveland drained 15 3-point baskets and received a stellar all-around effort from forward LeBron James, who had 25 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals. "We played an OK game," James told reporters. "I don't think we played to our standards. The first game is always kind of a feel-out."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE HAWKS: Backup point guard Dennis Schroder was superb with a playoff career-best 27 points in Game 1, and he made five of Atlanta's 11 3-pointers. His play helped the Hawks make the second-half charge on a night in which starting guards Jeff Teague (eight points on 2-of-9 shooting) and Kyle Korver (three points, 0-of-1 shooting) were highly unproductive. "I think we can play better," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "Obviously, Dennis had a great game for us but overall, the whole group, we can play better. Defensively, we had some possessions where we gave ourselves a chance and we just couldn’t come up with a couple of rebounds late when it was tied (at 86)."
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: Power forward Kevin Love had 17 points and 11 rebounds while struggling through a 4-of-17 shooting performance in the opener. He also appeared to tweak his right shoulder late in the contest - it was his left shoulder that he dislocated in last season's playoffs - but insisted the injury was minor. "I’m fine. I was telling (general manager David Griffin) after the game I can't catch a break with that shoulder, but I'm fine," Love told reporters. "It was just one of those plays. You've always got to watch it when you pump-fake at that 3-point line on a jump shot. You can take a hit, but I feel good."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Cavaliers' postseason winning streak against the Hawks is the second-longest active one behind Cleveland's 12-game playoff victory streak against first-round opponent Detroit.
2. Atlanta C Al Horford had just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the opener, marking the fourth time in seven postseason games that he has tallied 10 or fewer points.
3. Cleveland PG Kyrie Irving had 21 points in Game 1 - his lowest output in five games this postseason.