The Cavs defense was nowhere to be found as the Hawks ran away with a double-digit victory.
Losing is inevitable in the NBA despite how easy the Cleveland Cavaliers have made it look through nearly the first quarter of the season. They didn’t have the necessary energy to stay with an Atlanta Hawks team that couldn’t miss a shot from beyond the arc as they fell 135-124 for their second loss of the season.
This didn’t seem like it was going to be an ugly game early on. Cleveland’s offense came out on fire. They scored 24 points in the first six minutes of the quarter which led to a 19-point lead. Then, the attack completely stalled out once the starters exited the game. The Cavs relinquished the lead entirely before the end of the initial frame.
The Cavs three-pointers that were going in early stopped. Meanwhile, the Hawks couldn’t miss from deep as they went 20-42 (47%) from deep for the game.
The Cavs struggled to end defensive possessions as they once again gave up too many offensive rebounds. This led to 17 second-chance points which juiced an offense that wasn’t finishing anything inside the paint without it.
Neither team was able to create any separation until the fourth quarter when the Hawks broke things open with an eight-point lead with just under two and a half minutes left in the fourth. The Cavs tried to make a comeback, but Trae Yong’s logo three with a minute and a half left put the game away. It’s a spot where he’s made more than a few deep fourth-quarter threes.
Young finished with 20 points and 22 assists in the win. De’Andre Hunter contributed 26 points as well.
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 30 points and 6 assists. Evan Mobley provided 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 helpers.
This was the second sloppy game in a row. The Cavs weren’t sharp on either end of the floor. They weren’t moving their feet like they should on defense, weren’t getting defensive rebounds, and weren’t recovering to the three-point line. The team is currently waiting for the offense to bail them out. Unlike their previous win, they weren't able to do so here as they went 15-48 (31%) from beyond the arc.
Relying on the offense to save them has been a good enough formula on most nights, but it wasn’t the one they were using to rattle off 15 straight wins at the start of the season. This type of effort will produce a similar result in Friday’s pivotal NBA Cup group play game in Atlanta. And it won’t be enough to even keep the game close in Sunday’s rematch against the Boston Celtics.
