Cleveland Cavaliers thwart Atlanta Hawks to extend streak to three

Cleveland Cavaliers extend streak to three straight at home

The Cleveland Cavaliers make it three consecutive victories at home after successfully fending off the Atlanta Hawks, 114-102. After a tough stretch, the Cavs were able to find their mojo and turned things around with one game left in this homestand.

Jumping the gun to command a commanding double-digit advantage after the opening quarter, Cleveland briefly allowed the Hawks to claw back and cut their lead to just five by halftime. Fortunately, the defense came through for them in the final period to allow them to close out another win.

Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 29 points and nine dimes, while Darius Garland matched that assists total and added 26 markers of his own. Cedi Osman once again provided the scoring punch off the bench, chipping in with 23 huge points while shooting 80 percent from the field.

Cleveland’s switch defense bothered Atlanta’s own All-Star duo of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, helping limit them to a combined 36 points while forcing them to make just two out of their 12 attempts from beyond the arc.

The Cavs will look to sweep the homestand

Cleveland’s much-improved defense remained to be the defining factor in this successful stretch, with Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens providing a significant injection of energy on that end of the floor to supplement the already imposing frontcourt duo of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

Without Caris LeVert (ankle) and occasional starter Dean Wade (knee), the Cavaliers got some help with the return of Kevin Love, but the veteran big man remained pretty much out of it offensively, going scoreless in limited minutes.

While Love works his way back, Cedi Osman has been Cleveland’s lone gunner off the bench and has relished that role–a far cry from the major struggles he faced last season which resulted in a shaky and undefined role.

Despite having a wobbly night handling the basketball, the Cavs had a great night offensively as far as shooting the basketball, making a season-high 60 percent of their shots. As long as the defense holds up and the core group continues to get some help offensively from the reserves, they will be in a good position going forward.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, now up to 11-6 in the standings, will look to keep the current streak alive as they host a surprisingly competitive Portland Trailblazers squad on November 23, the final assignment in this reinvigorating homestand.