The Hawks had yet another shot at clinching the Southeast Division title for the first time since 2020-21 and lock up a top 6 seed all at the same time. They got the added benefit of not seeing Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and a number of Cavaliers who sat out due to injury.
The Hawks sustained an early barrage from Cleveland to turn the tide with an 10-0 run to take a 15-10 lead. CJ McCollum warmed it up from the floor during this period:
Zaccharie Risacher made an appearance after a DNP-CD last game with Jalen Johnson picking up two early fouls. The bench for Atlanta as a whole brought some energy and maintained the lead throughout the rest of the quarter.
With 12 minutes gone, the Hawks were up 27-22.
But in the second quarter, the Hawks strung together some empty possessions on offense and allowed the Cavs to regain footing in the game. With the game knotted at 31-31 after a turnover leading to a Cleveland score, Quin Snyder called timeout to gather the troops.
After a fast start from both teams, it was a cagey affair throughout the first half with neither side able to consistently knock down jumpers.
But sometimes flashy defensive plays led to scores for the Hawks, like here after this Mo Gueye emphatic rejection:
From there, the Hawks used defense to springboard to a 14-point lead at one point. Jonathan Kuminga and Dyson Daniels combined for great defense to lead to this breakaway dunk:
From there, the three-point floodgates opened for the Hawks. CJ McCollum and Nickeil Alexander-Walker used a series of Daniels dribble-handoffs to find space to splash down from deep.
At the end of the first half, the Hawks had pushed the lead up to 61-48. Dyson Daniels — who was a game-best +18 in the half — had a near triple-double with nine points, eight assists and six rebounds. CJ McCollum cashed in 25 points off 9-for-13 (69%) shooting.
The Hawks stayed locked in after the break, including Daniels showcasing his nifty moves in the open court:
From there, the Hawks tightened the grip on their defense and absolutely shut down the Cleveland offense, turning defense into instant offense on multiple occasions.
And the Hawks continued to pour it on from there, at one point going on a 16-0 run crack the game wide open. This is what a lot of the quarter looked like:
With just 12 minutes to play and a playoff berth to clinch, the Hawks led the Cavaliers 96-65.
The Hawks took care of business early in the final period, making it a veritable blowout after a couple of monster Kuminga dunks. Quin Snyder emptied the bench early in the quarter, and it was official: the Hawks are headed directly to the playoffs and bypassing the Play-In Tournament for the first time since 2020-21.
Final score: 124-102.
Dyson Daniels finished with his second career triple-double with 13 points, 12 assists — against just one turnover to boot — and 10 rebounds. CJ McCollum was the game’s high scorer with 29 points in just 24 minutes.
Atlanta will close their season at the Miami Heat on Sunday afternoon.
