Cavaliers fall short against Hawks to suffer second straight defeat

Cleveland Cavaliers stumble on the road anew

The Cleveland Cavaliers will not be able to carry a win going into the All-Star break after falling to the Atlanta Hawks on the road, 124-116. Despite another big night from floor general Darius Garland, the Cavs kept on their tails simply couldn’t get ahead late against Trae Young and the Hawks.

Garland, who is set to become an All-Star in just his third season in the league, continued to show his merit with 30 points and eight assists but was one-upped by Atlanta’s Young, who finished with 41 and nine to thwart the late fightback from the Cavaliers.

The Hawks’ Danilo Galinari also added 25, while Cleveland had two other players score in 20 or more with rookie Evan Mobley and veteran and former five-time All-Star forward Kevin Love adding a combined 43 in the losing effort.

A neck-and-neck affair, neither team had ever gained a double-digit edge throughout the night, with Atlanta only beginning to pull away late in the final period. The Cavs were still only behind by four points with 4:08 remaining, but didn’t have enough to pull off another comeback.

Weary Cavs to get some much-needed rest

With another defeat, the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to 35-23, back down to fourth place in the suffocatingly bottlenecked Eastern Conference but still only two games behind the co-leaders Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls.

While the Cavs would’ve wanted to enter the All-Star Weekend on a high note but at least the team could look forward to the possible return of erstwhile starting forward Lauri Markkanen, who has been recuperating from an ankle injury.

However, Garland, as well as the late addition Allen, won’t get much rest albeit will have the amazing opportunity to play in their impending All-Star Game debut on their own home floor at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on the 20th.

Not only will the duo play in the Sunday night main event, but they are also tabbed to join up with Evan Mobley in representing the host team Cavaliers in the Skills Challenge. The rookie of the year frontrunner Mobley will also keep busy after getting selected to the Rising Stars Challenge together with the Cavaliers’ defensive-minded sophomore guard Isaac Okoro.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers will have about nine days off through the All-Star Weekend and will be reuniting with the team prior to getting back on the road to face the Detroit Pistons on February 24.