Recap: Cavs 135, Hawks 130 (or, Cruise Control)

The last time something like this happened, Kyle Korver was on the receiving end… this time, he got to be the one to memorialize the historical barrage. The Cavs revisited the cruise missile like aerial attack they perpetrated on the Atlanta Hawks and their suspect perimeter defense just about 10 months ago in Game 2 of their second round playoff sweep. Back then, they set an NBA playoff record with 25 made three-pointers, en route to a 123-98 victory, that prompted Ernie Johnson’s infamous halftime quote…“Game 3 in this series, if necessary, is Friday in Atlanta.” But, the Cavs weren’t apparently satisfied with holding just the post-season record, so they matched it last night in Phillips Arena with another 25 long bombs to capture the regular season high mark for a game as well.

With Cleveland going ballistic from beyond the arc, as well as sharing the ball to the tune of 31 dimes (their second highest total of the season), you’d probably have expected a double digit blowout of the shell-shocked Hawks. In fact, if you turned the game off after three quarters with the Cavs holding as much as a 25 point lead… you’d probably be shocked to know just how close Atlanta came to clawing their way back into this game. Yet, that’s the danger of cruise control… it allows you take your foot off the gas, and can dull your ability to react defensively on the road.

For the majority of the first three quarters, the Cavs had this game completely in hand. Kyrie and LeBron both exploded out of the gate, scoring and setting up teammates at will. Irving was particularly Kyrie-diculous from the start… using his sick, certainly unfair (and possibly even illegal) handles to get to the rack…

Kyridiculous. @ESPNNBA pic.twitter.com/Ry3yXIFhXg

— NBA (@NBA) March 4, 2017

He also went back to back with LeBron to get the three point party started, as both All-Stars continually filled up the stat sheet (Kyrie had 13 points in the first, and LBJ had eight). They even helped get both Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert out of their recent slumps by setting both up for knock-down long balls. The Cavs moved the ball with aplomb and precision, accounting for eight dimes in the first, on the way to a 39 point quarter. The only downside was that they gave up 33 points to the host Hawks… mostly inside to Dwight Howard, and outside to Tim Hardaway Jr.

LeBron continued his torrid shooting in the second quarter, leading the new look “Positionless Death Lineup” featuring LBJ at the five… surrounded by Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson and both Williamses (Deron and Derrick). This unit widened the lead and featured a trio of open treys off of DWill2 assists. Kyrie checked back in to play some devastating off-ball offense with DWill2 and LeBron dishing it to him. Everyone started getting in on the ball movement, with guys passing up decent shots for good ones, and good ones for great ones… culminating in this amazing eight pass sequence that led to a Kyrie triple…

This ball movement. 😍 https://t.co/9TAaohsGXJ

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 4, 2017

The Cavs poured it on, taking a 77-60 halftime lead on Atlanta. They shot a blistering 65% from the field, and 57% from beyond the arc… raining down 14-23 deep balls. LeBron and Kyrie accounted for 45 of the 77 points, and helped facilitate on the bulk of the rest. Only the nearly unconscious shooting of Hardaway Jr. kept the Hawks vaguely in the game.

The third quarter brought more of the same, as the Cavs launched and hit three more triples, while the Hawks could only answer with twos. Dwight Howard got frustrated, and got himself T-ed up, then Kyrie nailed the free throw to give Cleveland its largest lead of 25 halfway through the period. This LBJ “I’m feeling pretty good, so I’m just gonna try and take the craziest possible three I can” shot punctuated the fairly one sided action…

LeBron = ridiculous. That's 30 pts in 22 mins on 11-17 with five 3s#DefendTheLand pic.twitter.com/1LwVOFdi1C

— NBA.com (@NBAcom) March 4, 2017

Atlanta did fight back, however, ripping off a 13-2 run to get back within striking distance behind renewed torrid shooting from Hardaway Jr., with some help from Kent Bazemore and Paul Millsap. Then Kyrie assumed control once again, setting up both Frye and Derrick Williams on threes, and hitting one of his own to push the lead back to 18 heading into the final frame.

It sure seemed as though the Cavs had this one in the bag, even as they were trading buckets with the Hawks for the first half of the fourth. And, when RJ knocked down the 23rd triple of the night for the wine & gold to provide a 19 point cushion with six and a half minutes remaining… it appeared the night would be over for the starters. Unfortunately, that’s where things almost slipped away… With the Cavs in the early penalty, they allowed the Hawks to score points with the clock stopped, and get into a rhythm. Over the next five minutes, Atlanta outscored Cleveland 25-7, mounting a furious comeback behind Hardaway, Millsap and Illyasova. With 1:31 left in the game, Millsap hit a bucket to pull the Hawks within one at 124-123. It was about that time, fittingly, that the Cavs turned to La Flama Blanca (fka Atlanta’s own personal Threezus) to turn the tide with one final, record-breaking three…

How fitting. Kyle Korver hits the Cavs' 25th 3 of the night, giving CLE the all-time record outright for 3s in a regular season game

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 4, 2017

2️⃣5️⃣ THREES!

We just set the @NBA All-Time record for threes in a regular season game with 25! https://t.co/dmGE4aRHRt

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 4, 2017

Kyrie took it from there, scoring the last eight points on a layup and six straight free throws to help the Cavs seal it and hold off the Hawks, 135-130.

The Evil:

The “offensive carnage” that ESPN announcer Mark Jones so colorfully referred to with regard to the Cavalier attack, did a pretty effective job of covering up the defensive deficiencies for about three and a half quarters of play. Yet, the Cavs still surrendered 33 points in the first quarter, 60 points in the first half, and 70 after halftime. The fourth quarter stood out with a 42 point hemorrhage… mostly because that was the only time the Cavs went a little cold offensively and the Hawks threatened. Cleveland also allowed Atlanta to shoot 54% from the field.

Curiously, the Cavs got beat up on the glass (53-40) and gave up 11 offensive boards. They also got doubled up on points in the paint (56-28). The absence of Kevin Love obviously has an impact, but also, Tristan Thompson doesn’t quite have the same ownership over Dwight Howard that he once did over Al Horford.

The Cavs got a little sloppy and complacent with the ball in the fourth quarter, ending up with 14 turnovers. It was clear that they lost a bit of focus down the stretch after being up by around 20 points for much of the second half. They also got a bit lazy with their defensive rotations and got themselves into early foul trouble. As a result, the Hawks got to the line 10 more times than the Cavs did.

In addition to TT having an off night (four points, five boards), Iman Shumpert also fizzled after a promising start. Shump hit 2-3 in the first quarter (both from downtown), but cooled off and missed his last four shots. His defense was decent, but he was slow to rotate on a few occasions.

The bench came through when they played, but could have probably been relied on a bit more down the stretch.

The Genius:

LeBron and Kyrie were outstanding in this game. It was reminiscent of Game 5 of The Finals when they were a two-man wrecking crew on the way to 41 points each. The aggregate was nearly the same against the Hawks, as Kyrie went for 43 points (on an extremely efficient 14-21, 5-8 from three, and a perfect 10-10 at the line), nine assists and four steals… while LBJ went for 38 points (14-27, 6-10 from three) with 13 boards and eight assists (just barely missing his eighth triple-double of the season).

LeBron and Kyrie scored or assisted on 117 of the Cavs 135 points (86.7%). Whoa. pic.twitter.com/s1DyvaBUAt

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 4, 2017

LeBron’s shot has been absolutely wet from downtown lately, and his effective shooting has opened up his game in a dangerous way for opponents. As efficient as he’s been, Kyrie was even more so on this night. But, what was most impressive was how well they both facilitated to get the ball to their open shooters to set the new regular season record for threes.

What a welcome back to Atlanta for Kyle Korver. Not only did KK get a warm ovation from the home crowd, and an awesome retrospective video after the first quarter on the jumbotron… he also hit three triples, including the dagger that set the record. Threezus is doing exactly what the Cavs hoped he would when they acquired him from Atlanta, and it’s clear the fans there miss him (especially with replacement Mike Dunleavy out indefinitely with something called right ankle synovitis).

Channing Frye was quietly great tonight. The big man did a nice job for the most part handling Dwight Howard early on, and really helped space the floor when he was out there. He also hit 4-7 (3-6 from deep) for 11 points and snagged four rebounds. With a +17 in just 25 minutes, it’s a wonder Ty Lue didn’t get him back in there to help a bit more in the fourth.

DWill… DWill… Rock you. Both DWills made significant contributions against the Hawks. Deron looked more comfortable running the second unit in just his second game as a Cav, and even though he only took one shot (which he made), he dished out seven dimes in just 17 minutes. It’s clear that given more time to acclimate, he’s going to be extremely effective for this team. The backcourt pairing of him and either Kyrie or a healthy JR should be devastating, and he seems to have the power/reputation to even get LeBron to be a willing roll man. Meanwhile, Derrick continues to impress with his surprisingly great three point shooting. He hit another 3-4 tonight, and is now averaging 43% from downtown with the Cavs. He was light on the glass in this one, but overall, he’s earned his contract for the rest of the season.

RJ, the ageless one, was highly effective in his limited time on the floor, knocking down 4-7 (3-5 from deep) for 11 points. He only lasted 16 minutes however, since he used all six fouls in that span.

All the threes. According to ESPN Stats & Info, at the conclusion of Friday night’s games, there were 44,520 regular-season and playoff games played in the 3-point era, and the only team to have made 25 3-pointers in a game is the Cavs — twice in the past 10 months, and both times against Atlanta. And, this was without both JR Smith (who had seven in Game 2 last season) and Kevin Love… who couldn’t quite believe it from afar…

Wait…25 👌🏼's??? 👀👀👀

— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) March 4, 2017

Even though it was an impressive feat, Ty Lue still thinks they could have done better…

“Probably could’ve had more,” Lue said. “If we would’ve took good shots, you know, we got up 25, got comfortable and just started messing around, messing around with the game. Didn’t respect them at the other end.”

Here’s all 25 of them anyway…

Though this game was a last minute addition to the ESPN schedule (and unfortunately blacked out in Cleveland on the network as a result), I found it to be one of the most enjoyable broadcast team combinations. Mark Jones is very good, and in my opinion Doris Burke is a stellar analyst. Cassidy Hubbarth also did a solid job on the sideline reporting. I genuinely hope this team gets a bit more run on some of these national games in the future.

Oh yeah… and JR is coming back soon! He apparently tried to convince the coaches and medical staff to let him play in this game, but he should be ready in the next 10-14 days…

Cavs hope J.R. Smith will be back playing in the “next 10 days to two weeks”, per @clevelanddotcomhttps://t.co/yFFj3LnAfV pic.twitter.com/OzeKmuiFgW

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 4, 2017

Parting Shot:

In a perfect world, the Cavs would have salted away this victory after being up 25 in the third quarter, or up 20 halfway through the fourth. They seem to have a somewhat annoying habit of hitting the cruise control and coasting for stretches. Instead of putting their foot on their opponents throat, they ease their foot off the gas and go on auto-pilot. On some level, I get wanting to experiment and use regular season games in place of practice for a championship level team. However, giving the starters a fourth quarter off in games that should be blowouts, would seem to be advantageous in the long run. But, at this point, maybe that’s just not the persona of this team. Their greatest successes seem to stem from their most challenging situations. If that’s what it requires for them to make things interesting for themselves as the regular season hits the stretch run, then we’ll just have to accept that (no matter how begrudgingly). Sure, it would be nice to get LeBron, Kyrie and the vets as much rest as possible to be fresh for the post-season, but it’s also extremely entertaining to see them put on the kind of offensive display that they exhibited against the Hawks. At some point, they will have to flip the defensive switch that they were able to find in last year’s playoffs though… otherwise the cruise control might make it a shorter trip than expected.