Cleveland Cavaliers Rally To Beat Atlanta Hawks
The Cleveland Cavaliers fought off the Atlanta Hawks’ late surge to take a 1-0 series lead.
Feeling well rested from their sweep of the Detroit Pistons, the Cleveland Cavaliers had their sights set on their second-round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Cavaliers seemingly had nothing to worry about, considering that they have won the last seven games against them. Four of those games were a sweep last year in the Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron was a god among mere mortals averaging 30.3 points, 11 rebounds and 9.3 assists, according to NBA.com.
Taking up the slack for injured co-stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love compelled him to step his game up and help his team to victory.
This year’s Cleveland Cavaliers team has its roster intact and are looking forward to having all their soldiers in line for a run at the title. The Hawks have so learned from their ways last season. Coming off a tough six-game series with the Boston Celtics, they were looking to avenge their loss to the Cavaliers.
Tuesday night’s game started the way their last seven have ended– the Cavaliers seemingly flexing their dominance on the Hawks. And the Hawks looked like they couldn’t do anything to stop it. The fourth quarter was a rather different story than most expected.
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The Hawks’ pride kicked in and decided to make this a series the Cavaliers will have to earn in the end. Dennis Schroder was the key contributor in the Hawks’ run, leading all scorers with 27 points off the bench. He also shot 10-for-20 during the game. In a blink of an eye the Hawks took their first lead of the game with eight minutes to go.
Back and forth they went with Irving not holding back, scoring 21 points and with eight assists.
James lead the way with 25 points, seven rebounds and nine assist, while shooting an efficient 11-for 21 from the field. However, the unsung heroes was Tristan Thompson, who did the dirty work securing 14 boards. Love also added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. All aspects equaled a 104-93 win.
With the win, James passed Michael Jordan on the all-time playoffs wins list with 120. It was a rather unusual game for James, who only got to the line one time. Nonetheless, it still didn’t stop him from helping his team to victory.
Game 2 will show if the Hawks can sustain getting huge runs against the Cavaliers. If they want any chance at trying to stretch the series to six or even seven games, they must continue to go at them head-on.
If the Cavaliers hope to flex their muscles against the Hawks, they must continue to attack the paint and create opportunities to get to the foul line. Both teams attempted 21 free throws during the game with James and Irving combining for three trips to the line.
They must also continue to shoot the three with efficiency. They shot 15-for-31 in Game 1, a great stat for a team trying to move the ball. In addition they must also get more their bench scoring (just 21 points for the reserves in Game 1). Schroder outscored the Cleveland bench by himself.
Lastly, they must contain the guards of the Hawks. Jeff Teague was rather miniscule with eight points on only nine shots. Kyle Korver was also rather ordinary with three points on one shot.
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If the Cavaliers take these keys with them into Game 2, they can make quick work of this Hawks team.