The Atlanta Hawks did not bother with late-season suspense on Friday night. A 124-102 beatdown of the Cleveland Cavaliers at State Farm Arena sealed a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference, wrapped up the Southeast Division and guaranteed Atlanta a straight shot into the first round of the playoffs instead of the NBA play-in. The win moved the Hawks to 46-35 and put a bow on a dominant home surge to close the regular season.
According to the Houston Chronicle, CJ McCollum poured in 29 points while Dyson Daniels finished with 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his second career triple-double. Atlanta broke the game open after halftime with a blistering third-quarter push, starting the period on a 16-0 run that ballooned the lead past 30 and essentially turned the rest of the night into a celebration.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "They believed that we could do this," praising the team-wide buy-in after officially locking in the postseason berth. Snyder and his players also emphasized that clinching early lets the roster shift its energy toward getting healthy and tightening up rotations ahead of a first-round series.
Key Performances
Sportsnet spotlighted McCollum’s scoring and Daniels’ triple-double as the clear swing factors in the runaway win. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson chipped in 18 points apiece, giving Atlanta plenty of balance behind its headliners. The Hawks have now taken 14 of their final 15 home games heading into the postseason, the AP reported via the Houston Chronicle.
Standings Watch
The victory locks Atlanta into at least the sixth seed in the East. As noted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Hawks will close their regular season on Sunday in Miami, then sit back and see where the rest of the conference chaos lands. A win over the Heat could nudge Atlanta up to the fifth seed, while a loss would leave the final slotting at the mercy of other results around the East.
With the play-in drama officially someone else’s problem, the Hawks can spend the weekend focused on treatment tables, film sessions and matchup debates, while fans start arguing over whether this late-season heater can translate into a full-blown playoff run. The first-round bracket will be locked in once Sunday’s games are in the books.
_Arena,_Atlanta,_GA_(46558861525)_-_2019.jpg){kind=link}