The Cleveland Cavaliers earned their first preseason victory in Wednesday night’s 105-99 home win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The Cavs were led by Donovan Mitchell’s game-high 24 points and eight rebounds, while Darius Garland added 23 points on 8-of-21 shooting.
After initially struggling to score in the game’s beginning, the Cavs outscored the Hawks 32-17 in the second period en route to the win.
The opening quarter saw Atlanta jump out to a 24-19 lead and a 22-15 advantage in rebounds (including seven offensive rebounds against the Cavs), with Clint Capela’s seven boards leading the way.
One key gap in the Hawks’ Wednesday arsenal was Trey Young, who struggled in an initial 1-for-9 shooting performance, and ended the night with 14 points on a 3-17 outing from the floor.
Meanwhile, the Cavs struggled to 8-of-24 shooting, along with a 2-of-12 display from the 3-point line, in the opener.
However, the Cavs’ 3-point shooting improved in the second quarter, as Cleveland shot 7-for-12 from beyond the arc to take a 51-41 lead at the half. Cedi Osman (16 points) went 4-of-6 from deep off the Cavs bench, while Garland shot 3-of-7 and dished out seven 1st-half assists. Isaac Okoro also added 16 points in a 7-of-9 outing, while Mamadi Diakite contributed 13 points (5-7 FGs) off the bench.
In the third, Mitchell opened with back-to-back 3-pointers to make up for a tough offensive start (3-15 FGs, 0-4 3-pt FGs in the 1st half). However, Atlanta responded with a fast start to tie the game at 65-all halfway through the period. The Hawks’ run was led by Dejounte Murray (who scored a team-best 17 points) and John Collins (15 points).
However, Cleveland maintained the lead and held on for the victory in their last home contest before the start of the regular season.
Cleveland played the contest without a number of their key veterans, including Evan Mobley, Caris LeVert, Kevin Love, Dean Wade, and Dylan Windler.
The Cavs’ preseason finale comes on Friday, Oct. 14 in Orlando, against the Magic (7 p.m. tip-off).
