Hawks resting Dwight Howard against Cavaliers

There is also speculation that Irving might be shut down for the rest of the regular season so as not to aggravate the injury in time for the postseason.

Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (23) drives past Atlanta Hawks’ DeAndre Bembry (95) in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, April 7, 2017, in Cleveland. They suffered their second straight defeat at the hands of the Hawks, 123-116.

“Obviously, the last 10 games we’ve been 5-5”, he said.

The win vaulted Atlanta past the Milwaukee Bucks for fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

But that didn’t scare off a depleted Atlanta Hawks team on the second game of a back-to-back.

He also joined Vince Carter as the second Raptor to reach 2,000 points in a season. Boston has won three straight overall four straight on the road in the series.

“With the loss, the slumping Cavaliers are now tied with the idle Celtics for the No. 1 seed in the East and are just 12-13 since the All-Star break”.

“It’s why we have to figure out with five games left in the season I think we’re on the right path as far as just this game coming up – it’s a big one, we have to win this one and each one moving forward”.

“It’s a great momentum builder”, Hardaway said.

Kyrie Irving finished with 45 points, and was too financially conscious to rip the referees afterward.

Ryan Anderson made six 3-pointers and had 21 points for Houston.

LeBron James had his usual dominant stat line – 27 points on 12-for-15 shooting, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 42 minutes – but it wasn’t enough to thwart the Hawks’ 29-7 run in the fourth quarter that changed the game.

“Ball movement, definitely ball movement (was the key)”, Millsap said. That’s how we’ve got to play.

“We became the team that was becoming attacked rather than us attacking”, Irving said. “They came in, they played hard and they beat us”. Atlanta outscored the Cavs 44-18 in the quarter to force overtime. The loss to the Hawks left them two back of the Cavs in the loss column, and Cleveland holds the tiebreaker. Wade, who averaged 18.6 points in his first season with his hometown team, had been ruled out for the season.

“The first half is about as good of a first half as we’ve had”, Budenholzer said. Therefore, the Cavs can not coast into the playoffs if they plan to hold on to the #1 seed.

After trailing by 26 going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks cut the deficit to two with seconds left in the game. Mike Muscala‘s corner three to answer gave the Hawks a one-point lead. So the unfathomable notion that the Hawks could clinch a playoff berth as early as Saturday when they took the court Thursday night against the Celtics came to fruition. “We have to be better defensively”. Paul Millsap (swollen left knee) and Kent Bazemore (bone bruise) aren’t ready to play in consecutive games as they recover from injuries. “Beat Boston and have the game that we had, and to come back and not validate it against a team that didn’t even play their guys”.

NOTES: Boston coach Brad Stevens said he had no plans to rest the regulars before the playoffs begin. Millsap and Bazemore are available, but will play measured minutes until back to full strength. Sefolosha and F Kris Humphries were inactive for the Hawks.