The Cleveland Cavaliers have three losses this season. Two of them have come at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks in the past three days. Atlanta impressively beat Cleveland 117-101 on Friday, finishing with a 3-1 record in NBA Cup group play. If the Boston Celtics take down the Chicago Bulls later tonight, the Hawks will advance to the knockout stage.
Despite committing 18 turnovers and five in the first four minutes, Atlanta pulled off the win. I asked Head Coach Quin Snyder about his team’s adjustment after a poor start.
“They were really physical with us early. We did a good job responding to that,” said Snyder.
The Hawks shot 51% from the field and 41% from deep to counteract the turnover issues.
For the second consecutive game, Atlanta’s bench dominated. De’Andre Hunter had a team-high 23 points (7-12) with four triples. Onyeka Okongwu added 15 points, and Bogdan Bogdanović scored 10 to outscore the Cavaliers reserves 48-28. Snyder highlighted Hunter’s contributions in his post-game press conference.
He said, “I don’t think he gets enough credit for the little things he does… He’s really embraced shooting the three.”
The Hawks’ skipper also noted Hunter worked with Antonio Lang to have a quicker shot release.
Atlanta fell behind 16-8 early due to turnovers but started off 7-10 from the field. Evan Mobley and Darius Garland were aggressive from the jump, as they led Cleveland’s first-quarter attack. Once the Hawks valued their posessions, they got right back in the game when the bench checked in. Bogdanović and Jalen Johnson drained back-to-back threes, giving Atlanta a 29-27 lead after the first quarter. The Cavaliers shot 11-28 from the floor, while the Hawks were 12-18. Atlanta had no turnovers over the final five minutes of the frame to crawl back in front.
Donovan Mitchell struggled all throughout the game, missing his first eight shots and finishing 5-23 from the floor for 12 points. Both offenses ran into trouble in the second quarter. There was only 11 combined points scored in the first five-and-a-half minutes. Eventually, Atlanta went on a 12-5 behind Hunter’s boost off the bench to go up 46-38. Hunter already had 15 points mid-way through the frame. The Hawks brought their lead to 11, but the Cavaliers ended the half with four consecutive threes between Mitchell and Galrand to cut the deficit to 50-52 at halftime.
After a shaky end to the half, Atlanta bounced right back in the third. Clint Capela went to work inside with 12 quick points, including an impressive dunk over Mobley, on perfect shooting in third qaurter. After Hunter and Trae Young splashed two three’s, the Hawks took their biggest lead at 77-61. Capela and Okongwu stymie’d Cleveland inside throughout the second half. Mobley had 16 points at the half but only managed eight in over the final two quarters. Jarrett Allen was a non-factor with six points and five rebounds for the game. The Hawks won the third quarter 39-23 and took an 18-point lead to fourth.
The Cavaliers threatened to come back after a 6-0 run, bringing Atlanta’s lead down to 104-92. However, two clutch threes at the end of the shot clock from Okongwu and Dyson Daniels kept their team in control for the victory.
Johnson posted 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, while Trae Young had 21 points and 11 assists. Capela only scored eight points, but he filled up the stat sheet with 13 rebounds, two steals, and three blocks.
Garland led Cleveland with 29 points on 11-19 shooting, and Mobley finished with a 24-point, 12-board double-double. Mitchell was the only other double-digit scorer for the Cavaliers.
Atlanta looks to ride the momentum from these two victories when they face the Charlotte Hornets on the road on Saturday.
