The Cleveland Cavaliers have gotten their first win of the season. In a valiant effort and steady contribution from a number of players, the Wine and Gold were able to knock off the Atlanta Hawks 101-95 on Saturday. Over the past few seasons, Atlanta has been a team that the Cavs have been able to be competitive with and they were once again successful in limiting Trae Young.
A win like this one against a team who made a deep playoff run last season should be a huge confidence booster for this young team and hopefully, this confidence is something they can ride into their upcoming road trip.
Surprisingly, it was the defense that was the catalyst in last night’s win for Cleveland. The Cavaliers held the Hawks to just 38.4 percent shooting from the field and 29.4 percent shooting from three. More importantly, Trae Young was limited to 36.4 percent from the field and only attempted 6 threes.
For the team, after a slow offensive start, it was a last-minute second-quarter/third-quarter surge that would turn the tide of this game, giving them a comfortable lead. The fourth quarter had Cavs fans with sweaty palms but timely baskets would ultimately put any Hawks hopes to rest.
The team would also combine for just 10 turnovers, an issue that led to the loss against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
With that said, here, we will look at a stud and a dud from Saturday’s win against Atlanta, beginning with the stud(s).