It wasn’t exactly a rematch of the East Finals, but for the first matchup of the preseason, the conference’s two heavyweights from one year ago went at it pretty good.
After running out to an early lead, the Hawks took a 13-point edge midway through the third quarter. But Cleveland closed the quarter on a 13-4 run to make it a sprint to the finish in the fourth. In the final period, Camp invitee Austin Daye was blistering from beyond the arc, netting all 12 of his points in the closing quarter. But it wasn’t enough to catch the Hawks, who held on for the 98-96 win on Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
J.R. Smith led the Cavaliers with 15 points, going 6-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc – adding four boards, four assists, a steal and a pair of blocks.
”We executed (our offense) pretty well,” said Smith. “Not as well as we wanted to – we got a little sloppy with some passes, but we still executed pretty well. With Mo (Williams) out there, he spreads the floor and people have to pay attention to him, same as Kyrie. So when (Kyrie and Kevin Love) do get back, the second unit is just gonna skyrocket.”
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View photos from Cincy.
RJ monster slam.
Watch final game highlights.
Timofey Mozgov was the only other starter in double-figures with 13 points, five boards and a blocked shot.
LeBron James, who logged just over 22 minutes of action on Wednesday, finished with eight points, seven boards, five assists and a game-high three steals. But his stat-stuffing stint on the floor took a backseat to a moment he shared with some young fans at the Cintas Center.
During an official timeout midway through the third quarter, James sat at the scorer’s table. As he did, one kid after another made their way down the stairs to get an up-close look at the game’s greatest player. By the end of the timeout, an entire group of children gathered near James, who grabbed one of their phones and took a selfie while the crowd went nuts.
”The refs were looking at a play and we had some time in-between,” explained James. “(I was) just being cordial with the fans. These guys don’t get an opportunity to see us all the time. It just popped in my head.”
The game’s other highlight (that won’t appear in the boxcore) occurred towards the end of the third, when Cavs veteran forward Richard Jefferson absolutely crushed a right-handed dunk over the outstretched arms of Atlanta’s Walter Tavares. Both the Cintas Center crowd and the Cavs bench erupted as Jefferson drew the Cavs to within a point as the period closed.
After the game, the 14-year-vet downplayed the dunk.
“I saw (Tavares) in the National Anthem line – the guy is HUGE,” smiled Jefferson. “This is preseason. The dunk was great but I’m pretty annoyed that I couldn’t make a three-point shot and had a couple silly turnovers. But we’re looking big picture here. It’s always fun to laugh with the guys early-on and to smile, but we’re professionals here. People are gonna get dunked on. It’s going to happen to me, it’s going to happen to other people – so let’s look at the other stuff. We had 17 turnovers. The second unit could definitely play better. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”
Jefferson finished with seven points and four boards in the loss. He was part of bench unit that tallied exactly half of the Wine and Gold’s 96 points on Wednesday.
Another member of Cleveland’s second unit – Anderson Varejao – saw his first real action against an opponent since an Achilles’ injury ended his season last December. In 15 minutes of action, the Brazilian big man went 4-for-5 from the floor for seven points to go with a pair of boards and assists.
But it wasn’t the second team that rallied the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter at the Cintas Center. It was the third unit – led by non-contract players like Daye, Jared Cunningham and Quinn Cook.
Cook extended his strong Training Camp play with a solid outing on Wednesday – finishing with three boards and a steal and leading the reserves with four assists. Cunningham went 2-of-3 from the floor, notching all 10 of his points after intermission. And Daye stole the show in the final period – canning four straight bombs to cut an eight-point Atlanta edge to just a deuce in the game’s final minute.
The Cavaliers shot 42 percent from the floor compared to the Hawks’ 44 percent. Atlanta outscored Cleveland on the break, 15-8, and forced 17 turnovers. Cleveland, which finished 10-of-11 from the stripe on the night, didn’t attempt a single free throw before intermission. But Cleveland’s spacing and ball-movement were very good – especially among the starters.
”We had 28 assists, so obviously the ball was moving,” praised Coach Blatt. “Our guys played hard, I thought they played right and, for us, that was a pretty good game. As we planned, minutes-wise, and lineup/roster-wise we did what we wanted to do. I can’t say I’m happy that we didn’t win in the end, but on the other hand we came out of that game pretty much with exactly what we wanted.”