May 5th, 2009 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
If the Atlanta Hawks are going to try and give the best team in the East a series, they had better play a lot better than they did Tuesday night. For the Cavaliers, they showed little to no issues with a 9-day layoff, as they used their first game of the second round as a shoot-around, crushing the Hawks 99-72 to take a quick 1-0 series lead.
The night belonged to the league’s MVP – LeBron James, who before the game got the MVP award all over again from NBA Commissioner David Stern on the court in front of a rabid sold-out crowd. James put up 22 first half points, and on the night hit for 34 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.
Mo Williams helped the Cavs with 21 points, and Delonte West added 13. The Cavs controlled the boards 41-33, and forced 17 Hawks turnovers to just 7 for Cleveland. The team seemed to have no ill effects from the long layoff, and the teams depth simply beat up a Hawks team that had to play a physical game 7 vs the Heat Sunday afternoon.
Atlanta kept it a game for most of the first half, trailing 25-21 at the end of one, and 49-44 at the half. The Cavs kept the Hawks at bay, and in the third quarter started to take the game over with big shots and great effort. The team outscored the Hawks 28-17 and would cruise the rest of the way.
They built a 27-point lead at one point in the second half, and never looked back. Atlanta’s best shot was early in the game when they led by 7, but really never matched up at all with a Cavs team that just continues to look more and more like they are poised to bring home an NBA title.
Josh Smith led the Hawks with 22 points, and Mike Bibby had 19. The Atlanta bench was a non-factor, being outscored by the Cavs 20-10, but the hustle and effort from the deep Cavs seemed to step on the Hawks throat without giving them any type of chance.
Game two of the best of seven will be Thursday at the Q at 8pm.
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