ATLANTA _ Since the Cavaliers lost to the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 5, the two teams had gone in opposite directions.
The Hawks entered Thursday's game at Philips Arena 2-8 since their two-point triumph over the Cavs in Cleveland.
The Cavs had won 10 of their past 11 and carried a nine-game winning streak, their longest since the 2014-15 season.
The scrappy Hawks (4-17) gave the Cavs all they could handle before the Cavs extended the league's longest active winning streak to 10 with a 121-114 victory.
LeBron James made a 26-foot 3-pointer with 1:48 to go, Dwyane Wade added a floater at the 1:14 mark and James made the second of two free throws with 43.6 seconds to play to give the Cavs a 119-112 lead.
Kevin Love led the Cavs with 25 points and 16 rebounds, and James had 24 points, six rebounds and 12 assists. But the Cavs (15-7) also got big efforts from Wade with 19 points and Jae Crowder with 15, three off his season high.
James made 8-of-11 from the field, 3-of-6 on 3-pointers and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line, his two misses coming in the final 43.6 seconds.
With Jeff Green contributing 12 points, the Cavs got 40 or more points off the bench for the 14th time this season, totaling 46. The Hawks' reserves scored 47 points.
The Cavs had a season-high 30 assists on 41 field goals, surpassing their previous best of 28 twice, the last at Detroit.
In the first half, the Hawks took advantages of mismatches on defense, especially when 36-year-old point guard Jose Calderon was trying to stop Hawks speedster Dennis Schroder on the pick-and-roll.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue elected to start the more athletic Jeff Green over Calderon in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, James spent some time guarding Schroder, including a crucial block of Schroder's driving layup with 24 seconds to go. Schroder finished with a game-high 27 points with five assists.
Schroder scored 11 of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter as the Hawks outscored the Cavs 32-19 to take a 67-63 halftime lead. It might have been worse, but the Cavs showed more interest on defense after a Cavs' timeout at the 1:49 mark. The Hawks missed their final three shots and turned the ball over on a 24-second violation as the Cavs closed with a 5-0 run.
In the second quarter, the Cavs made only 2-of-9 from 3-point range and 7-of-21 field goals.
Shooting 67 percent from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point range, the Cavs had matched their highest scoring first-quarter of the season to take a 42-35 lead after the first 12 minutes.
The Cavs regained their shooting touch in the third, making 62 percent, 54 percent from 3-point range. Love scored 12 points in the quarter as the Cavs pulled ahead 99-90.
James didn't miss a field goal until the 3:05 mark of that quarter, making his first seven, two of those from long range.
Cavs rookie Cedi Osman had a memorable night, getting extended minutes in a close game. Osman played 11 minutes and scored five points with four rebounds and an assist. Osman's career-high was 14 minutes in a blowout at Detroit on Nov. 20.
Hawks rookie forward John Collins, the 19th overall pick from Wake Forest, scored nine points with five rebounds in the first quarter. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
"Super-duper athlete," James said of Collins at shootaround. "We've got to be ready for his intensity. He's getting to play because they have so many injuries and things of that nature."
The Hawks thrive off turnovers, their 16.6 forced standing fourth in the league going into the night, their average of nine steals tied for seventh. The Cavs turned the ball over 20 times and the Hawks capitalized for 16 points.
