Only scoring 82 points, the Atlanta Hawks seemed to be overwhelmed by the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 on Friday Night. The Cavs defeated the Hawks 94-82, winning their second straight game in Atlanta.
Lebron James led the Cavs in scoring once again with 30 points (10-22), 9 rebounds and 11 assists. The Cavs got a big boost from Tristan Thompson and his 16 rebounds. The Cavs were able to pass the ball around, giving a lot of open looks to Iman Shumpert, who was the “JR Smith” of Game 2 with 16 points and 4 3-pointers.
“I give my teammates the utmost confidence that when I throw them the ball, to shoot with confidence,” James said. “I just try to put it exactly where they need it to be, where all they’ve got to do is catch and shoot or catch and drive and make things happen.”
Lebron made it clear that he liked to pass the ball, and actually got excitement from it.
“For me, more than scoring, you always get the excitement of two guys being able to benefit from a pass. If I score the ball, if I’m in an iso situation where I score the ball, it’s just me and I’ve always been accustomed to team basketball,” said James. “When I’m able to put pressure on the defense and then make a pass to a teammate and he’s able to knock it down, I’ve always got the excitement of that more than anything.”
With the Cavs playing on a high level, the Hawks just looked, sleep. Bench player Dennis Schroder led the Hawks in scoring with 13 points.
Al Horford was 5-8 for 12 points and 6 rebounds and had a lot to say about the way the Hawks played. He even mentioned that the Hawks didn’t make many, if any, adjustments during the Game 1 and Game 2 practices.
“We didn’t really make many adjustments between game 1 and 2. I think we definitely have to adjust now.” – Al Horford
— Sammy D. Logan (@Sammy_Socialite) May 23, 2015
It was very clear that Horford was telling the truth because the same thing that killed the Hawks during Game 1, happened to them again in Game 2.
The Hawks couldn’t get anything going and once again, had an awful 3rd quarter, allowing the Cavs to outscore them 30 to 17.
Kyle Korver hurt his ankle and missed the rest of the game, and DeMarre Carroll did not look 100% after playing on a bruised knee. Carroll had 33:47 minutes but only 6 points (2-6).
Jeff Teague started off hot but ended with just 12 points, 5-16. Mike Scott, who fans began a #FreeYoungEmoji hashtag on Friday to get Coach Bud to play him, played for 25 minutes and only scored 7 points. Scott felt like he could have done better.
Mike Scott post game interview #ECF Game 2
Posted by Samuel MrJournalist Logan on Friday, May 22, 2015
Game 3 will be in Cleveland on Sunday at 8:30pm.
Check out these other exclusive interviews from Game 2.
Kent Bazemore
Kent Bazemore post game interview #ECF Game 2
Posted by Samuel MrJournalist Logan on Friday, May 22, 2015
Al Horford post game interview #ECF Game 2
Posted by Samuel MrJournalist Logan on Friday, May 22, 2015
Mike Scott
Mike Scott post game interview #ECF Game 2
Posted by Samuel MrJournalist Logan on Friday, May 22, 2015