The Hawks did, in fact, play the Cavaliers at pretty much full strength. With a chance to clinch a spot in the top six for a chance at the playoffs, the Hawks fell to the Cavaliers 122-116 on Wednesday in Cleveland.
It did end up giving the Hawks a barometer for what could be a first-round matchup of the playoffs. The Cavaliers, who had rested their key rotational players over their last two games, rolled with them in Wednesday’s meeting.
The Cavaliers looked on their way to a dominant finish, leading the Hawks 110-92 with 10:09 to play in the game.
The Hawks fought back, cutting the game to 112-110 with 5:00 to play. But the Hawks’ good fortune ran out, even with a couple of buckets falling.
Jalen Johnson picked up his sixth foul with 3:50 to play, getting Cavaliers’ James Harden on a 3-point attempt. Eighty seconds later, Dyson Daniels picked up his sixth foul after the Cavaliers challenged an offensive foul on Donovan Mitchell.
Quick stats: Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 25 points. Jonathan Kuminga had 24 points and six rebounds off the bench. Onyeka Okongwu had 18 points and five rebounds. Johnson finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Mitchell had 31 points and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers.
Key moment
The Hawks went into the locker room at halftime with a 67-60 lead. But the Cavaliers returned, sprayed the ball around and the Hawks could not keep up.
Within the first few minutes, the Hawks gave up an 11-3 run to the Cavaliers, allowing them to get a 71-70 lead off a pair of free throws from Jarrett Allen. Hawks guard Dyson Daniels also picked up his third foul, which compounded the team’s collapse.
The Cavaliers ended scoring 29 points in the first seven minutes of the third, going on to outscore the Hawks 44-20.
Highlight play
The Hawks have needed a breakout game from Kuminga, who has averaged 8.5 points since his first three games with the team.
Kuminga came out aggressively, scoring on all three of his first baskets. He missed his fourth but didn’t let it affect his mentality to attack.
With 11:21 to play in the second quarter, Kuminga used a screen from Okongwu and drove to the paint. Cavaliers big Evan Mobley picked him up at the dotted line. But Kuminga gave him a little bump to create space before going up for the layup.
What they said
“I think we’re at a point where the things that we need to do differently, or do better, really, or not do, our team has a pretty good sense of what those things are at this point right now. I know they’ll talk about it. We’ll, as coaches, everybody will watch the film and see where we need to be better. I think our execution can improve.” — Hawks coach Quin Snyder to Bob Rathbun on the FanDuel broadcast.
“We got back in the game playing defense and running, and then when we did get in the half-court, the ball started moving even more, and that really gave us a lift. I think that the defense fueled the offense, and the offense fueled the defense, and that’s who we are.” — Snyder to Rathbun on the Hawks getting back into the game.
“He’s gradually getting more and more healthy and getting more and more comfortable with some of the things we’re doing. So, I thought he did an excellent job guarding the ball. And obviously, he got into the lane, and that’s a big thing for our whole group to be able to get in there.” — Snyder to Rathbun on Kuminga’s contribution off the bench.
Up next
The Hawks host the Cavaliers on Friday at State Farm Arena in the team’s final home game of the season.
Standings watch
The Hawks’ loss cuts into their lead for the fifth seed. They have just a ½-game lead over the Raptors, who beat the Heat on Tuesday night. The Raptors host the Heat again on Thursday and a win would bump them back into the fifth seed.
Meanwhile, the Magic have climbed to the seventh seed and trail the Hawks by one game.
Just a ½ game separate each of the teams — 76ers (8th), Hornets (9th) and Heat (10th) — sitting in the 5-10 spots in the Eastern Conference.
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