Atlanta Hawks Pull Away Late to Defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-101
After getting a win against the New York Knicks, the Hawks came back home for a matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back and the injury reports were filled from top to bottom for both teams.
The Hawks were missing Trae Young, Onyeka Okongwu, and Kobe Bufkin while the Cavs were missing Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, and Evan Mobley. With so many injuries and both teams having played a game the night before, it was going to be interesting to see who would come out on top in the end. Cleveland is in the race for the No.2 seed in the Eastern Conference while the Hawks are trying to hold onto the 10th spot.
It was a bitter-sweet night for the Hawks. They won the game, but lost Jalen Johnson to an ankly injury. Atlanta has been fighting injuries all season and that is only going to continued.
The starting lineup for the Hawks did not change in this game. Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela were the first five on the floor for the Hawks.
Cleveland started Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Georges Niang, Dean Wade, and Jarrett Allen.
The first quarter was about as even as you could imagine.
Both teams shot the ball well and could not seperate from the other. Atlanta had a slight advantage in three point shooting, but the two teams were neck-and-neck otherwise.
The rotation for the Hawks was the same tonight. De'Andre Hunter, Garrison Matthews, Bruno Fernando, and Trent Forrest came off the bench. Hunter and Fernando had solid first performances, with Hunter leading the team in scoring with 14 points and Fernando trying his best to posterize a Cavs defender for a dunk.
The second quarter was a different story. Atlanta turned up its defensive intentsity and was doing a great job of scoring points in the paint, which made up for going only 1-8 on threes. The Hawks defense held the Cavs to 31% shooting from the field and 14% from three in the second quarter. They led by as many as 18 in the quarter and the Hawks went to the locker room with a 64-49 lead.
Atlanta shot 57% from the field and 33% from three in the first half. Hunter (14 points), Murray (12 points), and Bey (12) were all in double figures for the Hawks.
Cleveland shot 40% from the field and 22% from three in the first half. Garland had 10 points for the Cavs and was the only player in double figures for the Cavs.
Despite playing well, Atlanta had a scary situation unfold at the start of the third quarter. Jalen Johnson appeared to have injured his ankle and was down on the floor and looked to be in serious pain. Johnson was helped up and went to the locker room.
Vit Krejci came in to take Johnson's place and it was just the second NBA appearance of the year for Krejci.
The Hawks seemed a little shell shocked after the Johnson injury and the Cavs immediately cut the lead to nine and just a little later, four points.
Garrison Matthews would then hit a big three to get the lead back to seven, but the Cavs were not going to go away.
Cleveland would take an 89-87 lead into the third quarter. They outscored the Hawks 40-23 in the quarter and had all of the momentum going into the final frame.
The Hawks held on though.
Cleveland had one of the worst quarters on offense that you will see and while the Hawks only scored 25 points, the Cavs managed only 12. Cleveland was 6-22 from the field in the fourth and 0-11 from three. A poor shooting performance from deep from Cleveland helped the Hawks hold on to an important victory for them.
Over the past few games, Bogdanovic has not been playing up to his usual level, but he returned to that tonight and Atlanta needed it. He finished with 23 points on 8-15 shooting and both he and Saddiq Bey helped the Hawks close the game. Bey also had 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Murray had 18 points while Hunter had another strong game off the bench with 17 points.
Atlanta shot 51% from the field and 37% from three.
You could tell the Cavs were missing some of their best players tonight on offense. They shot 44% from the field and 23% from three. They had six players in double figures.
Up next for the Hawks will be a road trip to Memphis to face the Grizzlies on Friday. Memphis is another team that is dealing with plenty of injuries, but they always play hard. It will not be an easy win for the Hawks by any means.
