LeBron James hurt the Atlanta Hawks by scoring 30 points. He may have hurt them even more with 11 assists.
The Cleveland Cavaliers took a five-point halftime lead and blew the game open with a dominating 30-point third quarter that put them halfway to the NBA Finals following a 94-82 win.
In the third quarter, James drove the lane and routinely found teammates for three-point makes: Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert twice each.
"Our guys got pretty good contests," Al Horford said. "I think we're going to have to change some things up so they don't get so many good looks like that.
James scored a three of his own in the quarter and tossed a lob to Timofey Mozgov for good measure. When it was done, the Hawks trailed, 84-66, and were left trying to figure things out.
"We've got to be better at containing the penetration," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said after. "We've got to be better at keeping people in front of us. And then when they do kick it, we've got to be better getting out to shooters."
For the Hawks, DeMarre Carroll (6 points) managed to overcome a left knee injury to start and play 34 minutes. But despite his determined effort, he was slowed a bit on both ends, and the Hawks sustained injuries that forced two more starters from the game.
Horford left the game momentarily after hit on his right leg. "My leg went numb for a bit," Horford said, "but once I was able to walk off, it felt better after that."
Kyle Korver left the game in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury and did not return. Korver came out shooting in the first quarter, scoring 10 points. Even more promising was the fact that he took eight shots, three more than he did in the entirety of the previous game.
Dennis Schröder led the Hawks with 13 points in 12 minutes. He was getting to the rim with regularity for soft shots off the glass and also made 1-of-3 three-point attempts. One interesting side story: When Schröder tried to apply full court pressure in the first half, the Cavs hit him with hard backcourt picks twice, once by James.
Coincidentally or not, Pero Antic picked up a flagrant foul bumping James on a drive to the rim shortly afterward.
The loss left the Hawks trying to reclaim the glory of their 60-win season, and trying to do it on the road with less-than-fully-healthy starters. The prospects of advancing to the Finals are slimmer than they were three days ago, but Paul Millsap is still honed in on his target.
"Keep moving forward," Millsap said. "A lot of people said we were not supposed to be here. We don't have anything to lose. The only thing we can do is put our best foot forward and see what happens."
Story by KL ChouinardTwitter: @AnaheimAmigos