Smith made six 3-pointers in the first half – the Cavs knocked down seven straight during one dizzying stretch – as Cleveland built a 38-point lead over the stunned Hawks, who head home for Friday’s Game 3 down 2-0 in the series and utterly demoralized.
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The Cavaliers let an 18-point third-quarter lead get away in Game #1 but found enough gas in the tank late in the fourth stanza to deal the Hawks another loss. As long as James keeps up his dominant play, there is nothing Atlanta can do to stop Cleveland. They were regularly behind the pace of things because they were letting the Cavs have their way in both shooting, and turnovers.
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 Hawks did outrebound the Cavaliers 48-44, including 15-10 on the offensive glass, in Game 1.
In other words, the defending Eastern Conference champions finally look like the world-beaters they projected to be a year ago before Irving and Love suffered serious injuries that left the team short-handed against the Warriors.
The Cavs were also one of the best three-point shooting teams during the regular season, and they have the personnel to do it. If a team can’t make the three with some degree of efficiency, it cannot survive.
Smith was 7-of-13 on 3-pointers, and finished he game with 23 points. That included connecting on just 18 percent from three-point range and scoring just three field goals during the second-quarter onslaught. And for the game, they shot 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) on 3s that came after three passes or more. “Tonight was one of those nights where you just kind of sit back and shake your head”. “He’s got a lovely shot and when he’s making shots, it becomes contagious and it’s hard for us to get beat”. His mediocre performance so far didn’t prevent the Hawks from sending the Celtics on vacation, but if he continues to underperform against the Cavs, the Hawks will be down 2-0 heading back to Atlanta.
“Something we’ve been stressing all year is that the ball finds energy”, James said. The Hawks cut the lead down to four points heading into the final period with an 11-0 run, including four three point shots.
“Aside from all the threes, I thought our defense was great”, Lue said.
Nobody – from Mike Budenholzer to LeBron James to Reggie Miller to yours truly – knows which appraisal will hold weight. Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love are wreaking havoc on defenses too focused on closing out to shooters and helping at the rim against LeBron – Thompson has secured over 19 percent of all Cavs misses while on the floor in this series.
Franchise superstar LeBron James shined the brightest for Cleveland in the win, having 27 points, four rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Or we drive the basketball in transition, LeBron’s driving seams, Kyrie’s driving seams and guys are open.
James, though, joined the 3-point party, making 4 of 6 from behind the arc.
Dahntay Jones made it nine Cavs players with a three when he broke the league record by hitting No. 24 with 2:22 left, and Mo Williams made it 10 players with a 3-pointer by hitting No. 25 soon after.
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The Hawks won’t have any chance if Kyle Korver doesn’t get going.
