A small stat to prove how one sided the game had gotten at halftime: After two quarters, the Hawks had 38 points while the Cavaliers had 39 in the second quarter alone. This mark was again surpassed by Golden State, making 21 during game 4 against the Houston Rockets. Also, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Atlanta Hawks by scoring 25 three-pointers in Game 2 of their NBA Playoffs series on Wednesday night.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped a record breaking 25 three-pointers en route to a 123-98 game 2 victory against the Atlanta Hawks.
Essentially, the Hawks might as well have not even have showed up to Quicken Loans Arena for Game 2. “It doesn’t matter if you win by 50 or you win by 100 points, it’s one game”. We just don’t want to take it for granted, but this is where it stays.
Part of that is because general manager David Griffin has constructed around James a squadron of shooters – the four-time MVP calls them “designated snipers” – who are capable of doing their damage from downtown. Theres probably not a lot that can be taken from looking back, particularly at last night.. “Many of the Cavs” looks were open looks, and while that has much to do with the phenomenal ball movement the Cavaliers have rediscovered in this postseason, the Hawks must look within to see why they’ve been overwhelmed in this series. Reserve guard Dahntay Jones hit Cleveland’s 25 three-point shot with two minutes and twenty-five seconds left to play. “They’re obviously a team that’s put together well, and we’re going to have to be very good to change it”.
“It was lovely to watch”, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
“I felt like we played hard out there, but they were just firing away”, Horford said. “I thought we made the right play”.
“We were getting open shots and taking open shots and we were making them”, Lue said.
Mike Budenholzer said Thursday that he has more important things to worry about than Cleveland’s late pursuit of the record.
“We will just continue to keep sharing the ball. The center position is a lost art. I don’t know if we’ll see all the box score, but when we look at it, we’ll see something different”. But at the end of the day, I dont think I need to make any comments..
Indeed, there are plenty of other things to occupy the Hawks’ attention.
Smith has made 11 of 20 attempts from long range, Irving has drained 7 of 10 and James is 6 for 10.
These few elements, along with the Atlanta Hawks of course remaining focused on both offense and defense, are indispensable if the Hawks plan to grab a win over the Cavaliers in this series. Game 4 of the Hawks-Cavs series will air on ABC.
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Mutliple Hawks players questioned Cleveland’s etiquette after the game, as reported by Chris Haynes of Cleveland.
