The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks 127-119 on Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Both teams were severely short-handed. The Cavs played without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, while the Hawks missed Bogdan Bogdanović, Clint Capela, Jalen Johnson and A.J. Griffin. Atlanta welcomed back De’Andre Hunter to the starting lineup, and Head Coach Quin Snyder started Onyeka Okongwu at center with Capela out.
Immediately, Jarrett Allen took advantage of the Hawks’ small defensive lineup, establishing dominance in the paint. The Cavs opened up a 14-3 lead, and Hunter’s corner three was the only shot Atlanta hit, despite some open looks. As they extended the advantage to 27-14, Allen single-handedly totaled 14 points to match the Hawks’ point total. At one point, Atlanta was down 39-20 in the first quarter, digging themselves into a massive hole. Offensively, Trae Young was the only Hawk consistently putting pressure on the rim. Despite making seven threes in the opening frame, Atlanta found themselves down 41-28, as Allen finished with 17 points on 8-8 from the field.
After the Hawks cut the lead to a manageable 13 points, Sam Merrill’s three-point shooting off the bench hurt the Hawks, pushing the Cavs lead back to 56-39. While Young scored eight points in the opening frame, Dejounte Murray struggled offensively in the first-half. He scored his first point with just over three minutes left in the second quarter. Cavs forward Dean Wade hit all four of his shots from downtown in the first-half and after an 8-0 Cleveland run, the Hawks were down 70-52 at halftime. Allen led all scorers with 21 at the break.
In the third quarter, the Hawks made their big push. Murray came alive, attacking the rim off the catch. Okongwu played better defensively, and Bruno Fernando gave Atlanta a huge boost off the bench. His size and energy bothered the Cavs. Donovan Mitchell was limited through the first three frames of this game, as the Hawks sent the big high on the screen to limit the Cavs from turning the corner. Atlanta put together a 9-0 run to cut Cleveland’s lead to 81-70. After being down 22 points in the first-half, the Hawks clawed their way back, holding the Cavs to just 22 points in the third quarter.
As the final quarter started, Young took charge, hit deep three’s and got to the free-throw line with ease. Atlanta went on a 14-5 run to cut Cleveland’s lead to 96-90 with nine minutes remaining. However, the Cavs immediately stretched the lead back out with an 11-4 run with Mitchell hitting back-to-back three’s. The Hawks never cut the deficit to less than six. Cleveland bent for the majority of the fourth quarter but never broke, holding off Atlanta’s comeback attempt.
Young played another brilliant game, finishing with 35 points (7-12 3PT) and 10 assists. He is now shooting 38% from deep after struggling in the first seven games with his efficiency. Murray totaled 21 points and six assists, while Hunter scored 18 in 26 minutes. Saddiq Bey continued his shooting slump, converting 21% from three over his last five games. He finished with five points on 1-9 from the field. Okongwu had 16 points but grabbed only four rebounds. Without Capela, Atlanta needed to make a more conscious effort to crash the glass. Fernando gave Atlanta great minutes off the bench with 13 points and eight boards in 16 minutes.
For Cleveland, Mitchell totaled 22 points and 13 assists but shot just 7-21 from the floor. Allen dominated down low for 25 points and 14 rebounds, and the Cavs outrebounded the Hawks 49-34. Isaac Okoro and Wade hit three and four three’s, respectively, for 18 and 16 points, while Strus added 11. Caris LeVert scored 14 points on 6-15 shooting.
Atlanta will return to State Farm Arena after a 1-3 road trip on Monday to face the Detroit Pistons. Detroit has suffered 23 consecutive losses – three away from tying the NBA single-season record. The Hawks will focus on making it 24 straight.
