Cavaliers finally able to handle Hawks

CLEVELAND — This one was about revenge. The Cavaliers turned the tables on the upset-minded Atlanta Hawks on Thursday with a 137-115 win in a nationally televised game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Atlanta (22-26) might be struggling this season but it handed the Cavs back-to-back losses in November. Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson admitted his players were out for "revenge." "For sure," he said. "They remember everything. It's all about competition." Atlanta was missing six players, including starters Clint Capela and Jalen Johnson and key reserve Bogdan Bogdanovic. Cleveland also didn't have its full complement of players with Caris LeVert, Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro all out. The Cavs (39-9), who have won three in a row, were playing on the second night of a rugged back-to-back after winning in Miami on Wednesday. So what did they do? They returned home and recorded the third-highest scoring total of the season and amassed 130 or more points for the 12th time this season. They had three players score 20 or more points, including point guard Darius Garland, who was added to the All-Star team as a reserve Thursday. He finished with a team-high 26 points and dished out seven assists. All-Star starter Donovan Mitchell contributed 24 points and six assists and sixth man Ty Jerome kept up his lethal play as of late with 20 points and six assists. He's really come up big after a wrist injury has sidelined LeVert for almost two weeks. Atkinson said Jerome has been in a "zone" and that his play has been "totally unexpected." "At the beginning of the season, I didn't pencil him into the rotation," the coach said. "It looks like this is real and can be extended to the playoffs." The Cavs' two big men combined for 25 rebounds and led Cleveland to a 49-36 advantage on the boards. Cleveland's third All-Star, power forward Evan Mobley, added 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Center Jarrett Allen, snubbed for the All-Star Game, was a beast on the boards with a game-high 15 to go with nine points. Forward Max Strus added 11 points and pulled down five rebounds, while rookie Jaylon Tyson had 15 points and five rebounds. Hawks rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher scored a game-high 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. The Cavs made it difficult on Atlanta point guard Trae Young, who finished with 15 points and a game-high 10 assists. However, he was 5-of-16 from the field and 2-of-8 from the 3-point line. Cleveland's red-hot shooting (.582) was too much for the Hawks. It started with their standout backcourt. Garland and Mitchell combined for 50 points and 13 assists. "We've played more games together and have a better feel for each other," Garland said. Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X. Cavaliers 137, Hawks 115 ATLANTA (115): Gueye 4-7 0-1 8, Risacher 11-14 3-6 30, Okongwu 6-11 1-2 14, Daniels 3-8 0-0 7, Young 5-16 3-4 15, Barlow 1-2 0-0 2, Nance Jr. 0-5 0-0 0, Roddy 0-1 0-0 0, Hunter 6-13 12-12 25, Krejci 2-3 1-2 6, Mathews 2-5 0-0 6, Wallace 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 41-90 20-27 115. CLEVELAND (137): Mobley 7-12 2-2 16, Strus 4-5 0-0 11, Allen 3-3 3-4 9, Garland 11-20 2-2 26, Mitchell 8-16 4-5 24, Bates 0-1 0-0 0, Niang 2-6 4-4 10, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Thor 0-1 0-0 0, Jerome 9-11 1-1 20, Merrill 2-6 0-0 4, Porter Jr. 1-1 0-0 2, Tyson 6-9 2-2 15. Totals 53-91 18-20 137. Atlanta&emsp; 29&emsp;34&emsp;21&emsp;31&emsp;—&emsp;115Cleveland&emsp;39&emsp;32&emsp;39&emsp;27&emsp;—&emsp;137 3-Point Goals—Atlanta 13-39 (Risacher 5-6, Mathews 2-5, Young 2-8, Daniels 1-1, Krejci 1-2, Okongwu 1-2, Hunter 1-7, Gueye 0-2, Nance Jr. 0-2, Wallace 0-4), Cleveland 13-39 (Mitchell 4-10, Strus 3-4, Garland 2-6, Niang 2-6, Jerome 1-2, Tyson 1-3, Bates 0-1, Thor 0-1, Mobley 0-2, Merrill 0-4). Fouled Out—Atlanta 1 (Krejci), Cleveland None. Rebounds_Atlanta 36 (Daniels, Okongwu 7), Cleveland 49 (Allen 15). Assists—Atlanta 28 (Young 10), Cleveland 34 (Garland 7). Total Fouls—Atlanta 18, Cleveland 19. A—19,432 (19,432)