Hardaway, Hawks stun Cavs
CLEVELAND — Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Atlanta Hawks, despite resting center Dwight Howard and missing three other key starters, stunned the Cleveland Cavaliers 114100 on Friday night.
The Hawks, who beat Boston on Thursday night, outworked and outgunned the defending NBA champions, who blew a chance to move closer to securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a flat performance.
Mike Dunleavy added 20 for Atlanta and got a little revenge against the Cavs, who tossed him in as part of a trade for Kyle Korver in February. The Hawks recorded 39 assists.
It was a shocking letdown by the Cavs, who were so impressive in a win over the Celtics on Wednesday night. But they lacked energy from the outset and the Hawks took advantage with their second straight victory, moving a game ahead of Milwaukee for fifth place in the East.
LeBron James scored 27 and Kyrie Irving 18 for Cleveland, which was in a funk for most of the night but took an 87-85 lead in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Korver.
Hardaway took over from there.
Although he was listed as questionable before the game with knee and wrist injuries, Hardaway played anyway and down the stretch he buried a pair of 3-pointers and delivered a vicious dunk during a 12-0 run when the Hawks put it away, shocking a sellout crowd hoping to see the Cavs move closer to locking down home-court advantage in the East. Cleveland was again without starting center Tristan Thompson, who missed his second straight game with a sprained thumb.