WRAP-UP
After winning their first three games to start the season, the Cavaliers came to Atlanta in a two-game funk. And after two-and-a-half sluggish quarters on Saturday night, it looked like that spiral might continue.
Instead, the Wine & Gold rallied to close the third period and pulled away in the fourth, stymying the league’s leading offense and holding on for the 96-91 win over the Hawks at State Farm Arena – improving to 4-2 overall this season, including 1-1 on the current roadie.
The Hawks jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and kept Cleveland at arm’s length throughout the first half. Atlanta improved its edge to 15 points midway through the third when the Cavs went to work.
In the final period, J.B. Bickerstaff’s banged-up squad surged ahead on Cedi Osman’s triple with 9:47 to play – and the game went back-and-forth from there.
Bogdan Bogdanovic tied the game at 88-apiece on a long three-pointer with 48 seconds to play, but Atlanta native Collin Sexton answered with a bomb on the other end – and he and Darius Garland iced the win from the stripe down the stretch.
Sexton led both squads, scoring 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter – his 11th straight of 20-plus dating back to last year – going 10-for-18 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from deep and a perfect 5-of-5 from the line, adding three assists and three steals.
JaVale McGee, who again energized the team off the bench, followed up with 14 points, adding nine boards, four assists, a pair of steals and a block.
Andre Drummond became the first Cavalier in team history to start the season with six straight double-doubles – chipping in with 12 points and 11 boards.
Larry Nance Jr. also pulled down 11 rebounds, adding nine points, a team-high six assists and three steals.
Cedi Osman rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, netting eight of his 11 points in the second half, including a pair of big buckets in the final quarter.
Miss any of the action? Find all the highlights and photos in the Game Tracker.
HIGHLIGHT
Collin Sexton drills the clutch, go-ahead three pointer with 27 seconds left as the Cavaliers come back from a double-digit deficit to beat the Hawks.
TURNING POINT
The Cavaliers got off to yet another slow start, spent much of the first half trailing by double-figures and were down a dozen at half.
The beat went on after intermission, and when John Collins scored on an alley-oop from Trae Young with 6:31 to play in the third, the Hawks were up, 67-52.
But the Cavaliers proceeded to outscore Atlanta, 18-7, to close the third quarter and scored the first six points of the fourth– capping their comeback when Cedi’s three put Cleveland ahead for the first time since the game’s opening moments.
The Cavaliers outscored Atlanta, 26-17, over the final period and capped the comeback at the line down the stretch.
BY THE NUMBERS
By the Numbers – 34.8 … points below their season average that the Cavaliers held Atlanta on Saturday night, holding them to 41 percent shooting and 34 percent from beyond the arc.
Trae Young - the East’s second leading scorer coming into the game at 30.6ppg - was held to 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting.
QUOTABLE
Collin Sexton, on what changed for Cleveland after halftime …"We knew what we had to do tonight. We had to buckle down and come together and we knew we can’t do it alone. And that was the main message at halftime. Coach J.B. let us talk it out. And after halftime we came out and played with some grit and we competed."
UP NEXT
The Cavaliers’ longest trip of the first half rolls on, but at least they’ll get to drop their suitcases – playing a pair in Orlando, the first on Monday and again on Wednesday night.
On Thursday night, Cleveland plays the second half of the tough back-to-back, taking on the Grizzlies in Memphis before closing out the trip in Milwaukee on Saturday night.
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January 03, 2021 at 12:28PM
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Cavs Complete Comeback in Atlanta | Cleveland Cavaliers - NBA.com
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