Cavs lose third straight, fall to Hawks in Atlanta

The Cleveland Cavaliers went on the road Friday to battle the Atlanta Hawks on the second half of a back-to-back after falling to the Denver Nuggets 115-109 on Thursday night.

This was Atlanta’s first game after the All-Star Break and their first game following the firing of head coach Nate McMillan and the hiring of interim head coach Joe Prunty.

Well, Atlanta got the effort they wanted. Trae Young led the Hawks with 34 points and nine assists, and Dejounte Murray added 25 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists as the Hawks routed the Cavs 136-119.

The 136 points are the most points the Cavs have allowed this season.

Cleveland(38-25) has now lost three straight, and the Hawks(30-30) snapped a two-game losing streak.

Here’s The Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss to the Hawks.

The Great:

Darius Garland was the lone bright spot for the Cavs. He led Cleveland with 33 points, including four threes.

Not So Great:

First Half: Man, this wasn’t good. Cleveland allowed a season-high 81 points in the first half. In addition, the Hawks shot 64% from the field and made seven threes.

After allowing 32 points in the first quarter, Cleveland allowed a whopping 49 points in the second quarter, which was a season-high, and the Hawks shot 82%(18/22) from the field.

Dejounte Murray scored quarter 15 points in the quarter and was a perfect 7/7 from the field.

Atlanta had their largest lead of the game at 81-49 in the second quarter, and the game was pretty much spoken for as the Cavs trailed 81-57 at the break.

Donovan Mitchell: He was off on Friday night. He was 6/17 from the field, including 2/10 from deep. Mitchell finished with 19 points but was not much of a factor. 

Bottom Line:

Cleveland just got blitzed in this one and could not stop Atlanta’s offense. On the second half of a back-to-back, you knew the Cavs’ energy might not be all the way there, but after their loss to the Nuggets, there should have been a much better effort. However, with an 82-game regular season, you won’t always be perfect.

Plus, a new coach usually means a big effort from the team, and the Hawks played well.

Not to minimize the loss, but the fourth-seeded Cavs will probably stay there(three games behind the third-seeded 76ers, 2.5 up on the fifth-seeded Nets), so this loss is not the end of the world.

With 19 games left, the focus is to get better and get ready for the playoffs.

What’s Next:

The Cavs return home to host the Raptors on Sunday night.

Best of the Rest:

Jarrett Allen had 14 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks; Evan Mobley added 13 points for the Cavs.