Hawks try everything against Cavaliers but still vanish in fourth quarter again
ATLANTA — Not long after the Cleveland Cavaliers had set the NBA record for 3-pointers in Wednesday’s Game 2, LeBron James‘ brain began racing over what the Atlanta Hawks would attempt to keep their season alive.
Similar to what he does on defense when he intercepts a pass like a ball-hawking safety, James was anticipating the Hawks’ next move for Friday’s Game 3.
“I’ve been kind of playing in my mind after Game 2 what they would try to do,” James said. “To be honest … I am not going to say it, that may give them something good to go with. [But] I thought they would make a lineup change.”
At this point, Mike Budenholzer is probably open to suggestions, because the sharp Hawks coach might be out of chess moves.
On Friday night, Budenholzer tried to give his team a jolt by starting defensive-minded Thabo Sefolosha and bringing shooter Kyle Korver off the bench. He also altered his rotation, subbing in Kris Humphries first and playing him key minutes to add more muscle.
The result was Cleveland following a record 25 triples in Game 2 with 21 more 3-pointers in a Game 3 encore. And now the curtains are about to fall on the Hawks’ season as the Cavaliers put a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-seven series with a 121-108 victory.
“Shake it off, come back and try to win Game 4,” said Hawks guard Jeff Teague, who had 19 points, 14 assists and just one turnover, and yet still saw the Hawks lose by double digits. “We know we can play with this team. We know we can beat them. Both Games 1 and 3, [we] had opportunities to win both of them. Just got to get it done.”
That’s about as easy as getting the Cavaliers to stop making 20 3-pointers a game, which is what they’re averaging right now in these Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Cavs have superstars, dynamic playmakers, closers and just more talent in James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. And with deadeye shooters all around them, the Hawks have been no match when the Cavs decide to pick it up to another level.
Twice in this series, the Hawks led the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter. In Game 1, they led by one with 4:28 to go and lost by 11. And in Game 3, Atlanta led 101-93 with 9:14 left and lost by 13 after Cleveland went on a 28-7 run.
After taking those fourth-quarter leads, the Hawks were outscored by the Cavs by a combined 45-12 and shot a total of 4-for-21 while turning the ball over seven times.
That’s these Hawks in crunch time. And it’s not as if Budenholzer isn’t trying to throw everything he can at the Cavaliers.
“[Got to] keep on trying something new,” Korver said. “We tried a couple of coverages tonight that we have never really run before.”
Love (21 points and 15 rebounds) started out on Friday night as if he were still playing in Game 2. He was on fire, scoring Cleveland’s first 13 points and making three 3-pointers.
But Budenholzer’s chess move began to take shape in the second quarter, as it seemed to spark Korver. The Hawks shooter — who made just one 3-pointer and scored a combined 10 points in the first two games of the series — knocked down 4-of-5 3s in the second quarter. Korver, who finished on Friday with 18 points, made three 3-pointers during a 23-5 Hawks run.
Al Horford also came to life, making 7-of-9 shots and scoring 15 of his 24 points in the first half. During that furious run, Humphries sent a buzz through Philips Arena when he drove and made Love stumble on his way to a layup.
The play went viral online, as if Kim Kardashian had tweeted a Vine of it herself.
Atlanta opened the second half on the attack, going again at Love. This time, Horford threw down a completely unexpected, one-handed, driving dunk on Love, who attempted to take the charge. Philips Arena exploded. Soon, the Hawks had an 11-point lead with 9:08 to go in the third.
“I think for three quarters we did everything we wanted to do,” said Paul Millsap, who had 17 points and eight rebounds.
The Hawks even got some breaks — James slipped and lost the ball as he tried to make a move on a defender while heading full steam ahead on a fast break toward the basket.
Early in the fourth, the two teams traded baskets at a furious pace. The Hawks appeared to be up for the challenge when they had the eight-point lead with 9:14 to go.
But then Irving buried a 3. He later found Channing Frye for one of Frye’s seven 3-point daggers.
James got a switch, blew past Korver and dunked. After that, James threw the ball into the post to Love, who passed out to J.R. Smith, who drew two Hawks to the 3-point line. Smith then skipped it over to a wide-open James, who had ample time to gather himself and take a dribble for good measure before sinking a 3.
James assisted Frye on a fast-break dunk and buried another 20-foot jumper. Even though the Cavs were only up 108-103 with better than five minutes remaining, the air had come out of Philips Arena.
Frye and Love drilled a couple of more 3s, each one feeling like another nail in the Hawks’ coffin.
Atlanta missed 11 of 14 shots and turned the ball over four times in the final nine minutes after leading by eight. And it ended with Teague shoving James into the stands and drawing a flagrant foul with 1:30 remaining.
Now the Hawks and Budenholzer have perhaps their final practice to come up with a season-saving adjustment.
The reality, though, is that there is no lineup change the Hawks can make to remotely challenge LeBron. At least not this season.
“I am not going to tell you which lineup change I thought they would do,” said James, who improved to 11-0 in the postseason against the Hawks. “I thought they would make a lineup change. And I was right on the money with that.”
