Cavaliers Vs Hawks: Atlanta Blows Out Cleveland 121-94

The Atlanta Hawks have won eight of their last 10 games are only percentage points behind the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat for the Southeast Division lead. The division race has turned into a three team affair with both Charlotte and Washington already seemingly out of contention.

More encouraging for the Hawks is that they are 5-1 since losing Al Horford to injury and were leading at halftime in that lone loss to Philadelphia. The Hawks will begin a five-game, nine-day road trip on Monday beginning in Milwaukee. Atlanta will also make stops in San Antonio, Detroit, New Orleans and Toronto before returning home on February 2.

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Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew was very critical following his team's 90-76 loss in Philadelphia on Friday night that contained a third-quarter collapse in which the Hawks were outscored 25-10. On Saturday, Drew was hoping to see his team respond with a solid performance against a struggling Cleveland team.

The Hawks delivered a blow out 121-94 win over the Cavaliers and Drew was much more pleased following the game.

"This team has responded to tough stretches. When we've had games where we've had tough losses we've bounced back. Tonight, I thought from start to finish we were in an attack mode. You could see the aggression, you could see the energy."

Slow starts to the second half have plagued this Hawks team recently and those struggles were forefront in Friday's loss to the Sixers. Atlanta built a 61-42 lead at halftime on Saturday but Drew challenged his club at halftime to come out of the intermission with a killer instinct.

"At halftime, I threw the challenge out there. Our last couple of ball games we have gotten off to very slow starts in the third quarter, and they responded to the challenge tonight and extended the lead and never looked back.

"I said, ‘Let's come out with the killer instinct.' I think this is the first game where we really extended a lead like we did in that third quarter. ... We were a team on a mission in that third quarter. You could clearly see that."

The result was a 14-4 run by the Hawks to start the second half and a lead that eventually extended to 30 points.

For more on this game Hawks fans should head on over to Peachtree Hoops and Cavs fans should stop by Fear The Sword. For more NBA basketball news and analysis be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.

The Atlanta Hawks bounced back in a big way from Friday's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers by blowing out the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-94 Saturday night at Philips Arena. The win comes just one night after coach Larry Drew accused his team of quitting in the third quarter of the loss to the Sixers.

Those wondering how the Hawks would respond were treated to a clinic in ball movement as the Atlanta offense hit on all cylinders Saturday night. Atlanta used an 18-6 run to close the first half up 61-42. In recent games, Drew had been critical of how his team had gotten off to slow starts in the second half. Saturday night he challenged his club and the result was a 14-4 run to start the second half to further bury the Cavaliers.

Joe Johnson was red hot from the field hitting 10-18 shots for a game-high 25 points. Jeff Teague and Jannero Pargo finished with 14 points each and Zaza Pachulia added 13. Atlanta piled up 31 assists in the game and five different players finished with at least four.

Kyrie Irving had an up and down game for the Cavaliers with 18 points on 8-10 shooting but was saddled with seven turnovers. The turnovers were a big problem for the Cavs who piled 20 in the game. Tristan Thompson added 16 points and Alonzo Gee 14 for the Cavaliers.

With the win, Atlanta improves to 12-5 this season and is set to embark on a five game road trip that will close out the month of January.

For more on this game Hawks fans should head on over to Peachtree Hoops and Cavs fans should stop by Fear The Sword. For more NBA basketball news and analysis be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.

Atlanta closed the half on an 18-6 run to take a 61-42 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers at halftime. In the first half at least, Atlanta came out focused and set to put last night's mishap in Philadelphia behind them.

After being held in check for most of Friday night's contest in Philadelphia, Joe Johnson responded in a big way scoring 17 first half points to lead the Hawks. Johnson hit 7-13 shots and was also one of four Hawks players with three assists in the game. Jeff Teague added 10 points including a couple of fast break dunks that energized the Philips Arena crowd. The Hawks hit 58 percent of their shots in the first half and finished the half with 18 assists on 26 made baskets.

Cleveland's rookie tandem of Kyrie Irving and Triston Thompson were entertaining in the first half. Irving hit a variety of jumpers and finished the half leading Cleveland with 13 points. Thompson hit all three of his field goal attempts in the first half and was 4-5 from the free throw line for his 10 points. The Cavaliers shot a respectable 45 percent in the first half but turned the ball over 11 times which helped ignite Atlanta's fast break.

For more on this game Hawks fans should head on over to Peachtree Hoops and Cavs fans should stop by Fear The Sword. For more NBA basketball news and analysis be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.

When asked about his comments following Friday night's loss at Philadelphia, Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew did not back down from his statement regarding his team's play in the third quarter.

"it got a little tough and we didn't respond."

Drew felt that his comments were correct after re-watching the tape after the game. He also offered that he was looking for a strong response on Saturday from his team who usually do well following losses. One of the major sources of Drew's frustration was that they talked about Philly making a run during halftime and warned that they had to push through it when it came.

"We talked about it at halftime that Philadelphia was going to make a run and we couldn't fold the tent when they did we had to mentally be strong and push our way through it but that was not the response we got when they made the run."

Drew pointed at his team's shot selection as the reason for their struggles in the third quarter. He compared bad shots to the equivalent of bad turnovers against a team like the Sixers.

For more on this game Hawks fans should head on over to Peachtree Hoops and Cavs fans should stop by Fear The Sword. For more NBA basketball news and analysis be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.