Cavs blast Hawks in 127-94 win
CLEVELAND â Whatever magic the Cleveland Cavaliers discovered in the fourth quarter on Friday carried over into Saturday. The buzzsaw is sharpening and the rest of the league is officially on notice.
The Cavaliers made their first 11 3-pointers and set an NBA record in the process in a lopsided 127-94 victory Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks.
LeBron James had 32 points, six rebounds and seven assists, Kevin Love had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists and Kyrie Irving had 20 points and five assists for the Cavs (5-3), who set a franchise record by making 19 3-pointers.
The Hawks (5-4) began the night leading the league in 3-point percentage, but the Cavs beat them at their own game. They made all nine of their 3-point attempts in the first quarter to become the first team in league history to shoot 9-for-9 or better from 3point range in a quarter, according to Elias Sports Bureau. They also tied a franchise record with 13 3-pointers in the first half.
The Cavs scored 16 con- secutive points in the second quarter to blow open a 62-27 advantage. They led by as many as 43 in the second half.
Anderson Varejao had 10 rebounds, Tristan Thompson had 15 points and seven rebounds and Joe Harris had 12 points on four 3-pointers.
Both teams were playing on the second night of back-to-backs and coming off victories. The Cavs rallied from 19 points behind in the fourth quarter at Boston to win by one point in the final minute, then carried that momentum into the start of Saturday night.
James, who began the night leading the league in scoring at 27.1 points, scored 11 within the first four minutes Saturday to get the Cavs rolling. The lead never dipped below 23 in the second half.
The Hawks had scored at least 100 points in six of their first eight games, but were smothered in the second half by a Cavs defense that has been abysmal at times this season.
Not on this night. Even with a comfortable 9463 lead late in the third, James swatted Kent Bazemoreâ s shot out of bounds as the crowd roared. James responded by saluting the fans from the baseline in what was easily their most lopsided victory of the year.