Cavaliers at Hawks
Suffice to say the Cleveland Cavaliers will be ready for Sunday’s game at the Atlanta Hawks, two days after being stunned on their home floor by an Atlanta squad missing four starters. The Cavaliers, who led Boston by one game for the Eastern Conference’s top spot entering Saturday, defeated the Celtics on Wednesday before squandering a nine-point second-half lead to the Hawks in a 114-100 defeat that left Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue searching for answers.
“Just stupid, man,” Lue told reporters after the Hawks – who started Tim Hardaway Jr. and four reserves – outhustled the Cavaliers throughout the contest. “I just know we didn’t respect those guys.” The Hawks have experienced their share of clunkers through an inconsistent season, but Friday’s performance left Atlanta inspired as it holds a one-game lead over Milwaukee for fifth place in the East entering Saturday. The Hawks recorded a season-high 39 assists in notching their second victory in Cleveland this season, but Atlanta acknowledged it expects a better effort Sunday from the Cavaliers, who made an NBA-record 25 3-pointers in a victory in Atlanta last month. “We’ve got to come back Sunday with the same intensity and the same mindset because they’re going to come after it,” said Hardaway, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (51-28): LeBron James scored 27 points and Kevin Love pulled down 15 rebounds, but Cleveland lacked spark throughout the evening. Even more troubling is tightness in the surgically repaired left knee of Kyrie Irving, who left the game for treatment in the third quarter before returning. The loss snapped the Cavaliers’ four-game winning streak.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (41-38): Atlanta expects Dwight Howard and Dennis Schroder to rejoin the lineup Sunday, while Paul Millsap (knee) and Kent Bazemore (bone bruise) were out of action after playing in the team's win Thursday over Boston. The Hawks shot 50.6 percent from the field as all 10 players who played logged 20 minutes or more, and six players scored in double figures. Atlanta held Cleveland to 9-of-36 shooting from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Atlanta’s starting lineup Friday had combined to start 45 games this season – 27 by Hardaway.
2. Cleveland C Tristan Thompson missed Friday’s game with a sprained thumb, his second consecutive game out after playing in the previous 447 contests.
3. In their past seven games, the Hawks have lost twice to Brooklyn (worst record in the league) and defeated Boston and Cleveland (fourth and fifth in the NBA in wins).