3-3-17 at Hawks

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Breaking Down The 'W' - March 3, 2017

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Wrap-Up -- On Friday night, the Cavaliers set an NBA record by sinking 25 three-pointers. And as it turned out, they needed about all 25 of them.

The Wine and Gold led by as many as 25 points in the third quarter and by 19 in the fourth before the Hawks rallied to get within one with 1:32 to play. But Kyle Korver canned the record-breaking triple on Cleveland’s next possession and Kyrie Irving hit a layup and six straight free throws to seal the 135-130 win in an entertaining shootout at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

With one-third of the Big Three still on the shelf, Kyrie and LeBron James formed a dynamic duo that combined for 81 points in Friday’s win.

Irving posted his second 40-point game of the season – going off for 43 points on 14-for-21 shooting, including 5-of-8 from long-range. The four-time All-Star, who was perfect in 10 attempts from the stripe, led both teams with nine assists and had four of Cleveland’s seven steals.

LeBron was almost as electric on Friday night – finishing with 38 points on 14-for-27 shooting, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, leading both squads with 13 boards to go with eight helpers.

The Cavaliers had won 11 straight games against the Hawks dating back to the 2015 Playoffs before falling in the first meeting to Atlanta earlier this season. Cleveland was determined to get back on the right side of the ledger, canning 14 triples in the first half alone.

The Wine and Gold already has the postseason record for three-pointers in a game – set against these same Hawks, when they drilled 25 bombs in Game 2 of last year’s Conference Semifinals. (And hit 21 more in Game 3.)

On Friday night, they were 25-for-46 from long-range overall, with six Cavaliers notching at least three made threes.

Two other Cavaliers – “Road Trippin’” co-hosts, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye – finished with 11 points apiece in the win. Jefferson was 3-of-5 from deep off the bench; Frye, 3-of-5 in the starting lineup.

Kyrie and LBJ have monster games as the Wine and Gold get their 42nd win of the season.

Kyle Korver – who played over four seasons in Atlanta and got a nice first-half video tribute by the Hawks – finished with nine points, canning the big triple to stem Atlanta’s late run.

Derrick Williams continued his efficient offensive play, adding nine points on 3-for-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from long range. And in his second game with the Wine and Gold, Deron Williams chipped in with seven assists in just 17 minutes of action.

The Hawks shot 54 percent from the floor to Cleveland’s 55 percent, outrebounded the Cavaliers by 10, took 10 more free throws and literally doubled their production in the paint, 56-28. But the Wine and Gold’s three-point barrage was too much for Mike Budenholzer’s squad on Friday night in the ATL.

Turning Point -- The Hawks never led on Friday night, but they sure made it interesting down the stretch – going on a 25-7 run in the final five minutes to Cleveland’s 19-point lead to just one, 124-123, on Paul Millsap’s step-back jumper.

But LeBron found a cutting Kyle Korver, who splashed home his third triple of the night – giving the Cavaliers a two-possession lead.

Dennis Schroder got the Hawks to within three with his layup with 7.8 to play, but Kyrie closed the deal by sinking his fifth and sixth straight free throw in the final minute, icing Cleveland’s 42nd win on the season.

By the Numbers – 22-1 … Cavaliers’ record this season when they score at least 100 points and shoot 50 percent from the floor.

Quotable – Coach Tyronn Lue, on his team holding on for Friday night’s win …

”We got up 25 and just got comfortable, messing around with the game. We took some bad shots and didn’t respect one another. They made some tough shots, but we just didn’t respect them down the stretch when we got up 25. We have to be better than that, especially going into a back-to-back. We know we need to get our rest, and not finishing a game off the right way is disappointing.”

Up Next -- The Cavaliers wrap up their three-game road trip, (again) playing the Heat on the second-half of the back-to-back on Saturday night on South Beach. Cleveland stops home quickly for a Monday night meeting with the Heat at The Q before embarking on another three-game junket – traveling to Detroit next Thursday night, followed by Orlando on Saturday and Houston the following night.

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Cavs Dynamic Duo Does in Hawks

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The Cavaliers knew that March’s schedule wasn’t going to be easy and, even with the recent roster reinforcements, the final full month of the regular season got off to a rough start with Wednesday’s loss in Boston. As the squad gears up for 12 of its 17 games this month on the road, the next stop on the three-game trip takes the Wine and Gold to Atlanta for a Friday night matchup with the Hawks.

On Wednesday night, Cleveland fell to an Atlantic Division team for the first time this year, dropping a 103-99 decision to the Celtics in a game that had both a playoff vibe and playoff implications – with Boston keeping the Cavaliers from clinching the season series.

The Cavaliers fell to Atlanta in their first meeting this season – a 110-106 defeat at The Q – snapping an 11-game win streak, dating back to the 2015 Playoffs, against the Hawks. Even with Wednesday’s loss, the Cavaliers have won five of their previous seven.

The Hawks have won two straight – including a road win over the Celtics on Monday night – after dropping their previous three.

After Friday’s matchup at Philips Arena, the Cavs and Hawks lock up two more times this season – in a home-and-home set on April 7th at The Q and 9th back in Atlanta.

Two years ago, the Hawks put four players into the All-Star Game (including current Cavalier, Kyle Korver). This year, they had just a single representative – forward Paul Millsap, who earned his fourth straight appearance in the midseason classic last week in New Orleans.

The 10-year vet from Louisiana Tech went off for 37 points and 19 boards in a win over New York late last month – with the Hawks improving to 7-0 when Millsap tops the 30-point plateau – and he’s topped the 20-point mark in 23 games so far this season, doubling-up in seven of those contests.

Both Millsap – who finished with 21 points in the first meeting this season – and Thabo Sefalosha will try to check LeBron James on Friday night.

James tallied his seventh triple-double of the season on Wednesday night in Boston – finishing with 28 points, 13 boards and 10 assists. As the King starts ramping up for the season’s stretch run, he’s averaged 26.1 points, 7.7 boards and 10.5 assists – shooting  .618 from the floor, including .558 (24-of-43) from long-range – over his last 11 games.

Kyrie Irving got on a roll heading into the All-Star Break and hasn’t slowed down since.

On Wednesday night in Boston, Irving caught fire in the third quarter – netting 15 of his 28 points in the loss. It was Irving’s 10th straight contest of at least 20 points – averaging 26.8 points, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals per over that stretch. The four-time All-Star has also been deadly from the stripe over that span – going 45-for-47 over his last 10 games, shooting .906 on the season, good for 4th in the NBA.

In Cleveland’s lone meeting against Atlanta this year, Kyrie led both teams with 29 points – going 11-for-27 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the stripe.

For the Hawks, Dennis Schrӧder has successfully stepped out of Jeff Teague’s shadow and is having a solid season – leading Atlanta in assists (6.3) and filling the role as its second-leading scorer (17.4).

And the fourth-year guard from Germany, who’s notched double-figure scoring 51 times, has been even better over of late – averaging 18.9 points and 6.4 assists over his last eight games, netting double-figures in each and topping the 20-point mark in five of those contests.

Dwight Howard isn’t the same beast who knocked the Cavaliers out of the postseason back in 2009, but he’s still one of the toughest two-way big men in the Association – and he’s having a solid first season back in his hometown.

Howard comes into Friday night’s game tied with John Wall for 2nd in the Eastern Conference with 39 double-doubles this season, recording 20 of those in less than 30 minutes of action, and is the NBA’s active leader with 651 for his career.  This season, Howard became the first Hawk since Dikembe Mutombo in 1999-00 to tally two 20-point, 20-rebound games in the same season. The NBA’s three-time Defensive Player of the Year ranks fourth in the league in rebounding and field goal percentage and is the NBA’s top offensive rebounder at 4.2 per contest.

Not far behind in terms of cleaning the offensive glass is Tristan Thompson, averaging 3.7 OR per game this year. Despite an uncharacteristically rough night shooting the ball, Thompson tied LeBron James with 13 boards in Wednesday’s loss in Boston -- snagging six of those on the offensive end.

The Cavaliers’ blue-collar big, set to make his 430th straight appearance, has grabbed double-digit boards in five of his previous seven games – and will have his hands full with Howard on Friday night in the ATL.

Compared to the last time these two squads met in early November, the Wine and Gold’s bench has a completely different look. (And will be even more impressive when recently-signed big man Andrew Bogut officially suits up.)

The Hawks will definitely recognize one Cavaliers reserve – Kyle Korver – who spent his previous four seasons in the ATL and ranks third on their all-time list of three-pointers made with 818, hitting at least one triple in 311 of the 332 games he played with the franchise.

Korver was cold on Wednesday night in Boston before drilling the game-tying triple with under a minute to play. He’s made at least one three-pointer in 21 straight games and is shooting .524 from long-range (66-for-126) over that span – currently ranking second in the NBA in three-point percentage at .452.

And the Cavaliers have gotten good performances from several reserves of late.

Richard Jefferson is averaging 10.5 points on 61 percent shooting over his last four games. In his eight games with the Cavs, Derrick Williams is averaging 10.5 points on 59 percent shooting, notching double-figures in five of those contests.

Atlanta gets most of its firepower off the bench from Ersan Ilyasova, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kent Bazemore, who went off for 25 points on 8-for-13 shooting in the Hawks’ November 8 loss at The Q.

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KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers at Hawks

The Cavaliers continue their three-game road trip on Friday night when they face the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

The Cavs have won nine of their last 12 and own the best record in the Eastern Conference at 41-18.

CAVS TO DON GOLD JERSEYS.
        From where to catch all the action to Friday's game notes, Cavs.com has you covered.

Get into the conversation with other die-hards.

The Wine and Gold aim to bounce back following Wednesday night's hard fought, 103-99, loss to the Celtics in Boston. The loss was their first against the Atlantic Division in 15 games this season.

Coming into Friday’s contest, Cleveland has connected on at least 10 three-pointers in 13 straight games. The franchise record for consecutive games with double-digit three-pointers is 16 (twice, 10/25/16-11/29/16 and 3/9/16-4/5/16). On the season, the Cavs currently rank 2nd in the NBA in three-pointers made per game (13.1) and three-point percentage (.388).

Cleveland has used the long ball to dominate Atlanta as of late. The Wine and Gold are 11-1 against the Hawks since the 2015 Playoffs, and over that stretch of 12 games, the Cavs are averaging 14.3 triples per game (171-413, .414 3FG%).

Atlanta hopes to contain Cleveland on the perimeter as they seek their third straight victory. The Hawks currently sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 34-26 record.

The Hawks are led by their All-Star power forward, Paul Millsap. The 10th year pro from Louisiana Tech is averaging 17.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega

For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.

Status Update: (Cavs) - J.R. Smith, (Right Thumb Fracture, Out), Kevin Love, (Left Knee Arthroscopy, Out)

Status Update: (Hawks) - Mike Dunleavy, (Right Ankle Soreness, Out)

The two teams met on November 8th at The Q with the Hawks coming away with the 110-106 victory. In that game, Cleveland climbed back from an 18-point third quarter deficit and cut the Hawks’ lead to five, but Atlanta opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to go up by 15 and never looked back.

Kyrie Irving posted a game-high 29 points, to go along with four assists in 39 minutes.

LeBron James tallied 23 points (16 in the third quarter), nine rebounds, a team-high five assists and a game-high three steals in 37 minutes while Kevin Love finished with 24 points, converting 10-11 (.909) free throws, a season-high tying 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 38 minutes for his fourth double-double of the season.

As a team, the Cavs committed a season-low six turnovers and scored a season-best 25 points off of 19 Hawks turnovers. Cleveland outscored Atlanta 15-2 in fast break points and shot 21-25 (.840) from the free throw line.

Friday is the second of four regular season matchups between the Conference foes. They will wrap up their season series in April (4/7 at CLE, 4/9 at ATL).

After Friday's contest, jet down to South Beach for a Saturday night meeting with the Miami Heat. The Heat then travel to Cleveland as the Cavs make a quick home stopover on Monday night. The Wine and Gold hit the road for another three straight – traveling to Detroit, Orlando and Houston – as they play 12 of their 17 games in March away from The Q.VIEW FULL SCHEDULE | VIEW FULL SCHEDULE

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#CavsHawks Game Preview - March 3, 2017

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3‑3‑17 at Hawks

Breaking Down The 'W' - March 3, 2017

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