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NBA -- Horford soars high as Hawks nip Cavs, 106-97
By Nestor Ortiola
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Mar 2015
CHICAGO -- Doubted by many, the Atlanta Hawks proved why they are the best team in the Eastern Conference by beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-97, on Friday night at the Philips Arena.
Like they have done all season long, the Hawks used a balanced offense and a stingy defense to quell their visitors.
Six Hawks tallied double figures in points led by center Al Horford, who had 19 points, nine boards and six assists. Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap each had 16 while Dennis Scroder got 15 points and eight assists in relief play. Mike Scott and Demarre Carroll chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Hawks started hot and jumped to a 36-19 first quarter lead, but the Cavs rallied to within 81-79 after three quarters. In the final 12 minutes, however, Atlanta mustered a 25-18 run to seal their 49th win against only 12 losses.
LeBron James had a productive night with 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but the four-time league MVP missed eight of 13 shots and committed nine turnovers.
Cleveland ended up shooting just 29 of 69 from the field (42 percent) compared to Atlanta's blistering 43 of 84 or 51.2 percent clip. The Hawks made 6-of-28 threes while the Cavs drilled 13-of-38.
"This was an important win. That's a great team we were playing tonight," Hawks guard Dennis Schroder told the Atlanta Journal Constitution after his team's sixth consecutive victory.
But LeBron James wasn't worried at all, telling the same newspaper, "I can't be worried about the Hawks right now. It's not like we're going to face them in the first round (of the playoffs)."
At 49-12, the Hawks seized the best NBA record overall from the 48-12 Golden State Warriors. The loss, meanwhile, dropped Cleveland's record to 39-25, good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Photo: Al Horford tormented Cleveland with 19 points and nine rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks downed LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-97, at the Philips Arena.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Nestor Ortiola.
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