CLEVELAND: There was a point during their conference semifinals series last season when Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was no longer critical of his defense. The Hawks were doing everything right defensively by his measures and the Cavaliers were still making 3-pointers.
The law of averages was bound to reappear at some point. It finally did Tuesday.
Kyrie Irving scored 29 points, but the Cavs shot just 26 percent from behind the 3-point line (11-of-42) in a 110-106 loss to the Hawks. It is the Cavs’ first loss of the season, and it ended an 11-game winning streak against the Hawks that spanned two postseason sweeps. The Cavs were the last remaining unbeaten team in the NBA.
The Cavs made 77 3-pointers in their series against the Hawks last year. They set an NBA record by making 25 3-pointers in a playoff game and shot 51 percent from behind the 3-point line for the series.
All of that vanished Tuesday. LeBron James and J.R. Smith combined to shoot 2-of-13 in the first half, and the Cavs fell behind by double digits for the first time all season. The Hawks’ lead swelled to 18 in the third quarter, withstanding a valiant comeback attempt in both the third and fourth quarters.
James had 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists after going scoreless in the first quarter, and Kevin Love had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Channing Frye had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Cavs trailed the final 29 minutes, pulling within 81-79 late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Smith. But Iman Shumpert committed a costly foul while Kent Bazemore was attempting a 3-pointer in the final second of the third quarter. Bazemore converted all three free throws, and when Paul Millsap opened the fourth with a three-point play, the Hawks’ lead was back to 87-79. The Hawks pushed the lead to 96-81 before the Cavs tried furiously to close the gap again.
Dennis Schroder scored a career-high 28 points for the Hawks, and Bazemore had 25. Bazemore’s 3-pointer with 3:33 left was his first basket of the fourth quarter and extended the Hawks’ lead to 101-95. His only other basket was a baseline jumper in the final seconds to stave off a Cavs team that closed to within 108-106 on a three-point play from Love with 25 seconds remaining.
Dwight Howard grabbed 17 rebounds for the Hawks after leaving briefly in the first quarter to receive four stitches in his upper lip.
The loss ended the best start to a season in James’ 14-year career.
“It’s very difficult to win in this league,” James said. “No matter the teams I’ve been on, it’s just very challenging to win. So you don’t ever take it for granted when you’re able to have a start like this or some starts I’ve had in my career. So, I don’t put too much on it. I stay even keel and understand the process is more important than what we’re doing right now.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.