Marvin Williams leads Atlanta Hawks to 99-83 win over Cleveland Cavaliers
Marvin Williams scored a season-high 31 points and pulled down seven rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks cruised past the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-83 at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday night.
The Hawks forward Williams said that his team-mates helped him a lot in his best performance of the current season. He said, "(My teammates) kind of got me going early, which always helps. The guys that were guarding me were pretty big dudes, but I was just
a little quicker than them."
Al Horford registered 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Hawks, who won their second consecutive game of the 2010-11 season. Josh Smith was sensational throughout the game as he grabbed a season-best 18 boards, scored 13 points and dished out
eight assists in victory.
Guard Kirk Hinrich tallied 13 points, five assists and four rebounds, while guard Jeff Teague had 10 points for the victors.
The Hawks came into the game without Joe Johnson, who sprained his right (shooting) thumb in Atlanta’s 98-87 victory over the visiting New Jersey on Saturday night. Johnson’s X-Ray reports were negative and he is under day-to-day observation.
Guard Baron Davis came off the bench with a team-high 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds for Cleveland. Guard Ramon Sessions added 13 points and Daniel Gibson posted 11 points in the defeat.
Centre-forward J.J. Hickson and forward Alonzo Gee contributed 10 points each for the Cavaliers, who have lost eight of their last 10 games this season. Hickson also grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss.
Match Analysis
The Hawks got off to an impressive start as they went on a 10-2 run early in the first quarter to take an initial lead. Atlanta extended their lead to 17-8 with over three and a half minutes to go in the quarter. The Cavaliers fought hard and cut the deficit
to 21-18 after 12 minutes.
The Hawks got their shooting touch back in the second quarter and Horford hit a jump hook shot from the line in the fifth minute to extend their lead to 11 at 40-29. Hinrich's three-pointer beat the buzzer to put Atlanta ahead 52-39 heading into the break.
Trailing by 13 points at half time, the Cavaliers went on an 8-0 run in the third quarter to cut their deficit to 56-49. However, the Hawks then scored seven unanswered points to make it 63-49 for good. Cleveland fought hard to make the score a respectable
one but Atlanta carried a 74-66 lead into the final stanza.
The Cavaliers came out flat in the fourth quarter as they failed to score any basket for the first three minutes. In addition to that, they committed four fouls and two turnovers, allowing the visitors to extend their lead to 11 points with three and half
minutes remaining in the quarter. The Hawks then stayed in defensive mode down the stretch to seal the victory.
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