CLEVELAND — After a stellar opening-night win, the Hawks suffered a letdown loss to the Cavaliers on Saturday, 101-95.
They just couldn’t get much of anything going against a struggling Cleveland team, which was on the second night of a back-to-back and missing Darius Garland (left ankle sprain). Despite a late burst of offense, which narrowed the deficit to three with about five minutes to play, their comeback attempt ultimately fell short.
The Cavaliers (1-2) had a size advantage and finished with 54 points in the paint to the Hawks’ 42. Ricky Rubio led with 24 points, eight assists and three steals, with Evan Mobley adding 17 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
Trae Young led the Hawks (1-1) with 24 points, seven assists and three steals (in the first quarter, Young made the 500th 3-pointer of his career, which tied him with Dominique Wilkins for the sixth-most in franchise history). Cam Reddish added 19 points and six rebounds off the bench, De’Andre Hunter had 12 points and three rebounds and Clint Capela had 10 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double.
John Collins, who got in foul trouble early, added six points and 12 rebounds.
The Hawks clung to a narrow 55-52 lead after a messy first half, though they led by as many as 13 in the first half. But the second half started sloppily, too, with the Cavs going on an 15-0 run to take a 12-point lead, before Hunter finally stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer to make the score 67-58.
A nice finish by Reddish got the Hawks back within five, but they couldn’t gain much traction, entering the fourth quarter down 11. The third quarter was ugly, with the Hawks shooting 27.3% from the field and giving up 31 points.
The Hawks seemed to briefly settle down in the fourth quarter, with a jump shot by Hunter and layups by Young and Capela making the score 89-86, and Young making two free throws at the 1:16 mark to make the score 99-95. In the final minute Young had a turnover and Hunter and Reddish missed shots that could have brought the Hawks closer.
Next up, the Hawks will return home to face the Pistons on Monday. Then, they’ll depart for a three-game trip to New Orleans, Washington and Philadelphia.
