Cavaliers take 1-0 lead in series with Hawks after 104-93 win
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
After sweeping the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs, the Cavs knew their second round opponent, the Atlanta Hawks, could pose a more significant threat. Monday night in Game 1 in Quicken Loans Arena, Atlanta gave Cleveland a stiff challenge, but Cleveland used late run to take home a 104-93 victory and a 1-0 series lead.
“Give them credit they played well,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said. “I’m proud of my team. Things got tough and we just stuck with it, and we were able to win the game.”
The Cavs Big Three led the way for Cleveland Monday. LeBron James finished with a team-high 25 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Kyrie Irving, who has scored 20 or more points in every playoff game this year, finished with 21 points and eight assists in Game 1. Kevin Love recored his fifth double-double in five 2016 postseason games, totaling 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“We needed everything,” James said. “We needed everything tonight.”
Cleveland led by 11 points (30-19) at the end of the first quarter and by a 51-41 margin at halftime. The Cavs controlled the game throughout the first half and seemed poised to break the game open in the third quarter. The Cavs were headed to a dominating performance and when James threw down a dunk with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter, the Cavs took their largest lead of the night 72-54. However, after James’ dunk, the momentum completely flipped to Atlanta’s favor.
The Hawks closed the third quarter with a 16-2 run and reduced the Cavs’ large lead to a 74-70 advantage after three quarters. Atlanta kept the momentum flowing into the fourth, and when Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder threw an alley-oop to Al Horford for a dunk with eight minutes to play, the Hawks secured their first lead of the night, 80-79.
“I have to watch the film, but they made some shots,” Lue said on the Hawks’ comeback effort. “Mike Scott made a three right in front of Kevin. Schroder made another three and they kind of got confidence back.”
When Horford sank a hook shot with 4:28 to play, Atlanta had an 88-87 lead and a real shot at stealing Game 1 in Cleveland. But the Cavs showed mental toughness down the stretch, immediately putting together a 10-0 spurt, capped by two Love free throws to secure a 97-88 lead with 1:40 to play. The 10-point run essentially ended the game.
“I think at the end of the day, we’ll learn from our mistakes that we made tonight,” James said. “The best thing about our team is that we will make adjustments going into Game 2.”
The Cavs dominated the Hawks in the regular season and have been even more overwhelming for Atlanta in the playoffs. Cleveland went 3-0 against Atlanta in the 2015-16 regular season, sweeping the Hawks for the first time in a regular season series since the 2004-05 season. The Cavs are also 9-0 all-time against Atlanta in the postseason, which includes a 4-0 sweep in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Monday’s contest wasn’t as easy as Cleveland’s previous eight wins against Atlanta in the postseason. In those eight meetings, the Cavs’ average margin of victory was 15.6 points, while out-rebounding the Hawks by 13.3 boards per contest. Cleveland needed all 15 of the three-pointers they made to get past Atlanta Monday and entered the day averaging a 2016 Playoff-high 14.3 threes per game.
Schroder led Atlanta with a game-high 27 points, three rebounds and six assists. Hawks forward Kent Bazemore added 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Paul Millsap totaled 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday night in The Q.
POSTED 05/02/2016 23:16
Lake County Sentinel
