Cleveland Cavaliers’ 3-Point Barrage Sends Statement to Atlanta Hawks, NBA

The Atlanta Hawks set the series’ early tone with a furious Game 1 comeback. Though it still ended in defeat, the second half proved they weren’t going to roll over for the Cleveland Cavaliers and bow out of the second round without a fight. In Game 2, the Cavs had to send a contradictory message rather than just remain content traveling to Philips Arena with a 2-0 lead. 

Message received. 

En route to a 123-98 victory Wednesday night, the Cavaliers forgot missing a three-point attempt is permissible under the NBA’s rules and regulations. When both teams retreated to their respective locker rooms at halftime, Cleveland already boasted a 74-38 advantage behind a record-shattering 18 treys.

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Prior to that outburst, no team had ever made more than a dozen triples during a single half of postseason basketball. And as Cleveland.com’s Chris Haynes revealed, the Cavaliers moved past that mark with half a quarter to spare: 

Cavs have reached a playoff record of 13 treys in a half. This is getting ridiculous and we still have over seven minutes left.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 5, 2016

When the buzzer sounded the end of the second quarter, the Cavs had their 18 makes on just 27 attempts. Perhaps even more impressively, all but one of them came on an assist, helping the East’s No. 1 seed showcase just how dominant its offense can look when it wholeheartedly buys into the concept of ball movement. 

Kevin Love and LeBron James each made three of their four first-half attempts. Kyrie Irving went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Channing Frye made his only deep look. Richard Jefferson made both of his. Matthew Dellavedova severely depressed the team’s percentage by going 1-of-3 from downtown. And J.R. Smith paced the juggernaut with six makes on 10 attempts.

At first, the Hawks were actually trying on defense, and it just didn’t matter. In spite of the heavy contesting, the Cavs refused to miss, tearing through nylon each time the basketball departed from their fingertips. But as the lead swelled, a disheartened Atlanta defense resorted to less-advised tactics. 

As Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, it tried switching to a zone scheme, and Irving quickly capitalized: 

Hawks tried a zone defense … and Irving hit a 3-pointer.

— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) May 5, 2016

Then, the Hawks basically stopped trying.

There was no hint of proper transition defense from the …

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