[1] Cleveland Cavaliers 123-98 [4] Atlanta Hawks (Cleveland leads series 2-0)
In Game 1, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed a 17-5 run in the last four and a half minutes to seal a win. In Game 2, however, the Cavs made sure it didn’t come to that. the home team went on a 19-4 run in the last five and a half minutes of the first quarter and never looked back.
They kept piling on the misery, outscoring the Hawks by 21 in the second quarter, taking a 36 point lead into the locker room. A small stat to prove how one sided the game had gotten at halftime: After two quarters, the Hawks had 38 points while the Cavaliers had 39 in the second quarter alone.
The three point shot played a huge part of the Cavaliers’ Game 2 blowout victory. In fact, it amounted for 61% for the team’s total points (75 of 123) as they hit 25 shots from beyond the arc.
Their 25 3-point field goals were also the most made by any team in a game – be it the regular season or Playoffs. En route to the record, the Cavs also broke the record for most 3-point field goals made by a team in a half (18). J.R. Smith was a major contributor to the stat as 21 of his 23 points came from beyond the arc.
The rest of Cleveland’s starters also joined the party. Kyrie Irving (19 points, 6 assists) and LeBron James (27 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) both had four 3’s each while Kevin Love chipped in with three 3s of his own. In total, 10 of the Cavaliers’ 13 active players for the night knocked down at least one three on the night.
This is how dominant the Cavs were at one point in the game:
There was nothing glaringly wrong with Atlanta’s game. They had 16 turnovers, shot 45.2% from the field, 40% from long range and 90% from the charity stripe. They were just completely outdone by Cleveland’s hot long range shooting.
With the game getting out of hand early, no Hawks’ starter played more than 26 minutes on the floor. Paul Millsap had the best box score stats with 16 points and 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block.
Once the Cavaliers’ offensive onslaught began at the end of the first quarter, the Hawks looked completely out of sync on both ends of the court. They scored 98 points on just 30 shots, that’s far too less for their ball movement oriented offense.
However, it’s their defense which is going to be the talking point. Which player of their’s is going to guard James and how is that going to affect the rest of the team’s rotations. Atlanta needs to show up defensively to even be competitive in this series because right now Cleveland is having their way and just rolling.
Game 3 will be played at the Philips Arena in Atlanta on Friday.
Guess the Lakers players!
