Hawks 102, Cavaliers 94
ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks turned back the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, overcoming multiple fouls to post a 102-94 win at Philips Arena.
Devin Harris scored the Hawks' first seven points on his way to 11 first-quarter points. Scoring in the paint, at the foul line and beyond the 3-point arc, Harris racked up a season high 25 points. Jeff Teague augmented Harris with 19 points, including four 3-point shots.
The Hawks (42-33) held off the Cavs essentially without Al Horford and Josh Smith in the first half.
Horford, with two fouls in the game's first three minutes and a third foul with 6:42 left in the second quarter, did well to score six points and come up with three rebounds in the nine minutes he was on the floor in the first half.
Smith didn't score in the first quarter and had only three points by halftime.
Horford ended up with 16 points and six rebounds, and Smith recovered to finish with 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.
Atlanta's Kyle Korver hit a 3-point shot with 8:30 left in the first quarter to give him a streak of 68 consecutive games with at least one long-range basket. He had nine points.
Marreese Speights got hot late for the Cavs, finishing with 23 points, 15 of them in the fourth quarter.
Shaun Livingston had the hot hand early for the Cavs (22-51) and finished with 14 points. Alonzo Gee contributed 11 points and eight rebounds, and Tyler Zeller, who got his fourth foul seconds into the third quarter, had 12 points.
Cleveland's Daniel Gibson was ejected with 7:07 left in the second quarter after jawing with officials and getting two technical fouls.
The Cavaliers made a brief 12-6 run at the Hawks as the second half got under way and kept hanging around until Horford and Smith began attacking. The Hawks led 79-68 at the end of the third quarter.
NOTES: The Cavaliers were without Kyrie Irving, who for the foreseeable future is not likely to be playing in back-to-back games, although that is not an official protocol. After missing eight games from March 12 to March 29 with a left shoulder sprain, Irving played 28:40 minutes in Sunday's 112-92 loss to the Hornets in New Orleans, scoring 31 points. He was understandably sore Monday, but as Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said before the game, "He said he feels good, but I expected him to say that." Scott also said Irving did not lobby to play. ... Cavs second-year forward Tristan Thompson is one of seven players nominated for the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, given by the basketball writers for community service. ... Scott, asked about how to stop the Hawks' Josh Smith, joked, "We would love for Josh to shoot about 20 jump shots. That would help us more than it would them." ... Hawks coach Larry Drew said after a .500 road trip, "We have to kind of feel good where we are." ... Horford returned to Atlanta's starting lineup after missing two games with a stomach illness, but John Jenkins was still out with a mild concussion. Team doctors were scheduled to check him out before the game; the Hawks will be following the NBA's concussion protocol.
