Cleveland, OH – Jeff Teague posted 27 points and eight assists as the Atlanta Hawks took a 102-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Louis Williams scored 16 points with five rebounds, while Al Horford gave 14 points and 11 boards for the Hawks, who have won three straight.
"I felt that we stuck with out game and guys played their positions," said Atlanta head coach Larry Drew. "In the first half guys kind of got away from it, but we fixed things at the break and came out on top."
Kyrie Irving had a game-high 28 points along with six rebounds and five assists for the Cavaliers, who had their first two-game winning streak of the season snapped. Dion Waiters donated 18 points and six rebounds in the loss.
"They did a much better job of rebounding, getting people in position and getting the shots they wanted," said Cleveland head coach Byron Scott. "A lot of that was their experience and it showed."
The Cavs took a 5-point lead into the final quarter, but an 8-0 run early in the frame by the Hawks gave the them an 83-82 advantage after a Teague slam.
Cleveland went back on top on back-to-back 3-pointers from C.J. Miles and Irving, but two free throws from Zaza Pachulia followed by a shot from John Jenkins from behind the arc tied the game at 88-88 with 6 1/2 minutes left.
The game stayed close for the next couple of minutes, with an Irving layup giving the Cavs a 94-93 lead with under three minutes to play. Teague followed with a jumper to give the Hawks the lead for good, however.
After Irving missed a long shot, Williams grabbed the rebound and Horford followed at the other end with a jumper. After another miss from the Cavs, Pachulia tried to put in a short basket and missed, but grabbed his own board and kicked it back to Kyle Korver, who buried a 3-pointer for a 100-94 Atlanta lead with 1:21 to play.
That proved to be the back-breaker, as Cleveland missed its next three shots and Atlanta walked out with the win.
The Cavs held a 26-25 lead after 12 minutes of play, but the Hawks went on a 14-3 run in the second quarter before Cleveland came storming back with a 3- pointer from Irving at the buzzer that cut the deficit to 55-54 at the break.
Cleveland led by as many as nine points in the third quarter, but the Hawks were able to keep it from getting out of hand and trailed by five (75-70) at the end of the period.
Game Notes
Atlanta hosts Indiana on Saturday ... Cleveland plays in Brooklyn on Saturday ... Atlanta has won eight of its last nine against Cleveland ... Cavs forward/center Anderson Varejao missed his fifth straight game with a right knee contusion and will miss Saturday's game as well ... Atlanta shot 48.7 percent for the game, while Cleveland made just 41.9 percent of its shots.
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