Kenny Atkinson Pinpoints the 12 Minutes That Cost the Cavaliers in Atlanta

The Cleveland Cavaliers scored 16 points in the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night at State Farm Arena. Atlanta scored 30 in the same 12 minutes, and a 19-2 Hawks run inside that stretch turned a 35-24 Cleveland lead into a 43-37 deficit, according to The Associated Press.

The Hawks won 114-111.

That loss ended a three-game winning streak. The 16 points tied Cleveland's lowest-scoring quarter of the season, and the Cavaliers were on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Washington Wizards 121-111 at Rocket Arena on Wednesday. Evan Mobley made a career-high five 3-pointers in that win.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said Cleveland has not yet had a full, complete game this season.

"I thought the second quarter we couldn't make a shot and they, I think they hit six threes," Atkinson said. "We had, I think, four clean looks, and I thought we had two looks at the rim that we could have converted. That's how this league goes. Outscored them the other three quarters. You have a drought like that on the road, it's — and we started off fantastically. Our defense was really good, really solid. A little bit make or miss there in that second quarter."

Through one quarter, Cleveland led 28-16, and the margin reached 15 points before Atlanta's run. The Hawks took the third quarter 43-38. The Cavaliers won the fourth 29-25.

Atlanta grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to Cleveland's 9 and finished with a 16-13 edge in second-chance points. Onyeka Okongwu had 5 of those offensive rebounds himself.

Securing the important ones is where Atkinson wants the Cavaliers to be better.

"They just started [dinging] us with threes," Atkinson explained. "I think they hurt us in transition, a couple of them were in transition. But listen, overall, we did a lot of good things. I thought we shared the ball. I thought we moved the ball. We played unselfishly. I liked our defense for the most part. There were some lapses, of course."

"But got to do a better job securing rebounds, important rebounds," Atkinson continued. "[They] got a couple long ones there at the end. But we gave ourselves a shot. We're right there at the end. Came back twice from deficits, 10, 11-point deficits. So we got a good group. It wasn't perfect, but we did some good things tonight."

With 28 seconds left, Okongwu scored on a putback layup to put Atlanta ahead 112-109. Donovan Mitchell answered with a driving layup at the 20.6-second mark.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker made two free throws with 15.3 seconds left. On Cleveland's final possession, Mitchell got off two shots that would have tied the game, and both missed.

Atlanta finished with 15 fast-break points. Cleveland had 4. Atkinson said the Cavaliers' turnovers in the second quarter fed the Hawks' break.

"No, I think they, that's what they do," Atkinson said. "That's their strength, right? And I don't [know] how many of them, I think we had five or six turnovers in that second quarter. That ignites their fast break. But we can do a better job. We've got to do a better job passing the ball ahead and getting the ball in the frontcourt quicker, no doubt about it."

For the game, Cleveland turned it over 9 times and Atlanta 11.

James Harden led the Cavaliers with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Mitchell scored 22 points. He shot 7-of-19 from the field, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range, and made 7-of-8 free throws.

Off the bench, Sam Merrill scored 16 and went 4-of-8 from deep. Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 8 rebounds, and Mobley finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Cleveland shot 13-of-42 from 3-point range, while Atlanta went 17-of-43. At the line, the Cavaliers made 22-of-29 and the Hawks made 13-of-18.

Okongwu scored a season-high 29 points with 12 rebounds. He was 11-of-17 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Alexander-Walker added 25, and Aaron Wiggins scored 20 off the bench on 8-of-14 shooting.

Atlanta snapped a three-game losing streak to reach 3-3. Cleveland is 3-2, and both losses have come on the road.

The first was Oct. 22 in Philadelphia, where the Cavaliers led by 29 points and lost 114-106. With the team at 1-1, Atkinson said the Cavaliers were not in elite condition yet.

Cleveland plays at the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET at Fiserv Forum. Milwaukee is 1-4.