Facing harsh criticism from their head coach, the Hawks started strong and finished stronger Saturday night.
The Hawks used decisive runs to end the first half and start the second en route to a 121-94 victory over Cleveland at Philips Arena.
One day after a 14-point loss to Philadelphia, in which Larry Drew said his team “quit” in the second half, the Hawks responded — with a season-high point total.
It was just as the coach hoped.
“This team has responded to tough stretches,” Drew said. “When we’ve had games where we’ve had tough losses we’ve bounced back. Tonight, I thought from start to finish we were in an attack mode. You could see the aggression, you could see the energy.”
The Hawks went on a 23-9 run late in the second quarter and opened a 20-point lead. The Cavaliers were coming off a 39-point loss to Chicago, the worst at home in franchise history. The Hawks kept the comfortable cushion at the intermission, leading 62-42.
After holding several 10-point leads in the first quarter, the Hawks got back-to-back 3-pointers from Vladimir Radmanovic before the decisive run, in which six different players scored. Joe Johnson finished with 17 first-half points, including three 3-pointers.
The Hawks then went on a 19-9 run to start the second half and extend the lead to 30 points, 81-51, getting points from five different players.
“At halftime, I threw the challenge out there,” Drew said. “Our last couple of ball games we have gotten off to very slow starts in the third quarter, and they responded to the challenge tonight and extended the lead and never looked back.
“I said, ‘Let’s come out with the killer instinct.’ I think this is the first game where we really extended a lead like we did in that third quarter. ... We were a team on a mission in that third quarter. You could clearly see that.”
Jannero Pargo made back-to-back 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter, and the Hawks’ lead was 32 points, 95-63. Pargo finished with a season-high 14 points. The Hawks’ biggest lead of the night was 33 points.
The Hawks (12-5) were led by Johnson, who scored a game-high 25 points. Jeff Teague also scored 14 points. Zaza Pachulia, who started at center, scored 13 points. Marvin Williams scored 12 and Ivan Johnson 11 to round out the Hawks’ double-figures scorers. Josh Smith scored eight points and had a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Hawks improved to 8-1 at home in defeating the Cavaliers for the fifth consecutive time. It also was the Hawks’ eighth win in the past 10 games.
“It was big,” said Teague, who had six assists. “Coming off a tough loss and playing the way we did today. It was really good for us to bounce back and know that we weren’t focusing on one game. It’s a continuous effort we are giving every night. That’s good.”
Rookie Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers (6-9) with 18 points.
With just over six minutes remaining, Drew was able to go deep into his bench. Jerry Stackhouse, Donald Sloan and Jason Collins entered to get all 13 players into the game. Everyone but Sloan made the scoring column.
The Hawks finished with 31 assists, one off their season-high, in the rout. It was that ball-sharing brand of basketball that Drew wants to see.
“When we move the ball we become a totally different team,” Drew said. “We become less predictable, and I can see that they enjoy playing like that.”
The Hawks begin a five-game road trip, over nine days, Monday in Milwaukee.
