Along the Hawks’ stretch run to the playoffs, the Cavaliers weren’t even a speed bump.
The Hawks led by as many 23 points en route to an all-too-easy 117-98 win over the Cavaliers Friday night at Philips Arena.
The Hawks (33-42) reclaimed the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference, moving a game ahead of the Knicks in the race for the final playoff seed in the conference. The Knicks (33-44) lost 90-89 to the Wizards on Friday night. The Cavaliers (31-46) are three games behind the Hawks.
The Hawks have seven games remaining in the regular season, two more than the Knicks.
It was just the eighth win for the Hawks in the past 29 games. They swept the season series from the Cavaliers, 3-0, and never trailed in Friday’s win.
Mike Scott led the Hawks with a game-high 26 points, including 18 in the first half.
The Hawks also got double-figure scoring from Jeff Teague (20 points), Paul Millsap (16), Lou Williams (16) and DeMarre Carroll (13).
Teague finished with a double-double with 12 assists. He passed Joe Johnson and tied Walt Hazzard for sixth place in franchise history with his 32nd career point-assist double-double. Millsap had a double-double with 11 rebounds.
The Cavaliers had a two-game win streak snapped and lost for the second time in the past seven games. Dion Waiters led the Cavaliers with 23 points.
The Hawks led by as many as 23 points in the first half. They tied a season-best with 37 first quarter points and took a 16-point advantage. A 13-5 run to start the second quarter, including seven points from Scott, pushed the lead to 23 points, 51-28. The Cavaliers got as close as 14 points with a 13-4 run before the Hawks took a 61-49 lead into intermission.
The Hawks shot 66.7 percent (14 of 21) from the floor in the first quarter including 6 of 11 from 3-point range. The Hawks also scored 37 first-quarter points in a December win over the Cavaliers.
“I think a lot of guys in this locker room have been around the block before,” Williams said before the game of the Hawks’ postseason push. “This is my ninth year, Paul (Millsap’s) eighth. We have a lot of guys who have been in the league for quite some time now. Some of us have been in this position where we’ve been fighting for a playoff berth. This is nothing new for us.”
The Hawks next play at the Pacers Sunday.
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