Cavaliers end skid with 117-109 win over Hawks
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BET WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Sunday night the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) welcomed the Atlanta Hawks (3-4) to Rocket Arena. The Cavaliers are in the midst of a tough stretch as they have lost two in a row but have also been shorthanded. On Friday night they were without Donovan Mitchell, Jared Allen, and Sam Merrill. Also, Darius Garland and Max Strus who have not played yet this season.
Last season the Hawks handed the Cavs their first home loss of the season last year on the second half off a back-to-back (day of in between) with Atlanta that the Hawks swept. Tonight was another close battle between the two teams with the game tied six times and the lead changing four times with the Cavs coming out on top with a 117-109 win sending the sellout crowd home happy.
The Cavs who looked sluggish early in the previous two contests did not look sluggish early on Sunday night as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead just 1:20 into the game when the Hawks turned the ball over and Donovan Mitchell returning from a one game absence hit a three. The Cavs eventually extended the lead to 18-7 when Evan Mobley hit a floater in the paint with 8:06 left on the opening quarter clock. The Hawks chipped away at the Cavs lead, closing the gap to 21-18 with 4:19 left in the first quarter when Mouhamed Gueye drained two free throws after being fouled by Mitchell. The Cavs responded by scoring the next five points to take a 26-18 lead with 2;16 left when Lonzo ball hit a jumper and the Cavs were aided by some terrible free throw shooting by the Hawks Dyson Daniels. When the quarter ended the Cavaliers built the lead to nine points at 31-22. Mitchell led all scorers with 11 first quarter points. Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with seven points. The Cavs were outrebounded by Atlanta 13-9 which has been a problem early in the season for Cleveland. The Cavs shot 43% (12 of 28) from the field while the Hawks shot 47% (7 of15). The three-point line was where the Cavs held the advantage shooting 38% (6 of 16) while the Hawks shot 17% (1 of 6). Turnovers were also a huge factor early as Atlanta turned it over 8 times and the Cavs had just one miscue.
The Hawks went on an early run to open the second quarter outscoring Cleveland 10-2 to cut the Cavs lead to 33-32 when Porzingis dropped in a layup with 9:11 left on the clock. The Cavs then scored the next five points to take a 39-32 lead with 8:36 left when Jaylon Tyson hit a three. Hawks coach Quin Synder took an immediate timeout. The Hawks then came all the way back to tie the game 41-41 on a three pointer with 4:52 left in the first half. The Cavs regained the lead 43-41 when former Hawk De’Andre Hunter was fouled and hit both free throws with 4:45 left on the clock. The game remained close with the Hawks tying the game again with 3:20 left on a dunk by Johnson courtesy of a pass from Kennard. Cleveland regained the lead 48-45 on a three pointer by Dean Wade. Wade then helped the Hawks out at the other end when he fouled Kennard when he drained a three. Kennard hit the free throw and gave the Hawks a 49-48 lead with 2:22 left in the second quarter. When the second quarter buzzer sounded the Hawks led 52-50 outscoring the Cavs 30-19 in the period. Mitchell still led all scorers at the break with 13 even though he only tallied two points in the second period. John led the Hawks with 11. The Cavs shot a miserable 25% (6 of 24) in the second period to finish the have shooting 35% (18 of 52) while the Hawks were on fire in the second quarter shooting 48% (12 of 25) to finish the half shooting 49% (19 of 39). Three-point shooting was no longer an advantage for the Cavs in the second quarter as they were 2 of 13 from long range for 15%. While the Hawks shot 3 of 7 for 43%. The Hawks also continued to win the battle of the boards 30-19. The battle of the board has been a problem for Cleveland early in the season as coming into tonight’s game they had been outrebounded in 4 of the 6 contests.
The lead went back and forth early in the quarter with the Cavs taking a 60-59 lead with 8:49 left when Mitchell hit his second three in the early minutes of the second half. With 8:09 left in the third Tyson was called for a questionable foul on Nickell Alexander-Walker, the second-year man from California was not pleased. During the break for the free throws Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson asked his superstar Mitchell to talk to Tyson. Mitchell did. Whatever Mitchell said to Tyson worked, after Alexander-Walker drained the two free throws Mitchell hit Tyson at the other end and the sophomore hit the three to give the Cavs a 66-61 lead with 7:47 left in the third quarter. The Cavs lead ballooned to 74-64 with 3:56 left in the period when sixth three of the game. The Hawks cut the lead to 76-73 with :57 left when Gueye dunked after a Cavs miss at the other end. With :02.2 left the Ball committed an offensive foul and turned the ball over. The Hawks final shot of the quarter which was initially ruled the three was determined to be after the buzzer and the Cavs led 78-76 after three. Mitchell was still leading all scorers with 28 points through three, 15 in the third period. Johnson paced the Hawks with 16 points.
After the Cavs lead had grown to 84-76 the Hawks then cut it to 84-81 after Evan Mobley turned the ball over on a bad pass and Kennard hit a three from the corner with 9:20 left in the game. Atlanta then tied the game 84-84 with 9:02 left when Tyrese Proctor fouled Daniels and the Hawks guard converted the three point play. With 6:19 left in regulation Hunter drained a three after a Ball miss and Craig Porter, Jr rebound, Wade found Hunter. Then with 6:02 left Mitchell hit his eighth three pointer of the game courtesy of Wade after a steal by Proctor set it up giving Cleveland a 96-88 lead. The Hawks scored the next six points capped off by a drive in the paint by Porzingis with 4:37 left, cutting the Cavs lead to 98-94. Then with 4:10 left after the Hawks 21st turnover of the game on a steal by Mitchell, Mobley slammed the ball home giving the Cavs a 100-94 lead and the assist to Tyson. With 2:43 left Mitchell, scoring his 37th point on three-point play (shot and free throw) gave the Cavs a 106-96 lead. After a Cavs turnover with 1:56 left the Hawks drew a foul on Mitchell, his fourth and sent Alexander-Walker to the free throw line with the Cavs up 106-99. Alexander-Walker hit one of two, cutting the Cleveland lead to 106-100 with 1:49 remaining. Mobley, who had been quiet most of the game hit a three with 1:24 left to give Cleveland a 109-100 lead. With 1:01 left and the Cavs up 109-102 Ball committed his fifth foul sending Johnson to the line. He missed both free throws and the Cavs lead was soon 10 when Tyson hit a three at the other end with :50 on the clock. The Cavs finished the Hawks off with :34.6 left when Mobley was fouled by Alexander-Walker and hit one of two free throws to give the Cavs a 113-102 lead. When the clock ran out the Cavs had secured the win ending their two-game skid and moving to 4-3 on the season.
Mitchell led all scorers with 37 points, 24 in the second half. Johnson paced the Hawks with 24 points and 13 rebounds for a double double in the loss. Tyson and Hunter also had nice games, both scoring 18 points as did the Hawks Daniels.
The Cavs who were shooting just 37% from the field through three quarters shot 57% (12 of 21) in the final quarter to finish the game at 41% (40 of 97) while the Hawks shot well the entire game finished up at 51% (39 of 77). One of the two key factors in the game was the Cavs outshooting the Hawks 35% (20 of 57) to 26% (6 of 23) from behind the three-point line. The second factor was the fact Atlanta turned the ball over 22 times resulting in 33 Cavs points while the Cavs turned it over 16 times resulting in 20 Hawks points.
The Cavs will now have a couple of days off and will be back in action on Wednesday night at home as they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers. The Cavaliers trail the all-time series 119-111, but are 64-50 at home (Cleveland arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket arena).
POSTED 11/02/2025 21:05
Lake County Sentinel
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Donovan Mitchell hits a three point shot in the first quarter, three of his game high 37 points in the Cavs 117-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tommy Shirer
