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Teague makes most of start in Hawks' win over Cavs 83 - 99
April 14, 2010
Wednesday night at Philips Arena was a game both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks will have no trouble putting behind them. With little to prove and nothing to gain, both teams gave their stars the night off and let their bench players take center stage. Hawks rookie Jeff Teague recorded his first career double-double with 24 points and 15 assists, both game highs as Atlanta topped Cleveland 99-83. "It was fun just getting the opportunity to go out there and play," said Teague, who played the entire 48 minutes, also a career high. "It was fun for me and the other guys that don't get an opportunity to play as much. We went out there and got the win. That was really big." "I think all of us really wanted to get rook his double-double and it just kept going from there," added center Jason Collins, who chipped in with 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting. "The ball was moving tonight and everybody did a good job on both ends of the court." Jermario Moon had 15 and J.J. Hickson added 14 for the Cavaliers, who rested LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal and Mo Williams. For both coaches, the final score wasn't nearly as important as having the game and the regular season done.
"I'm glad to get this game over with," said Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown. "Now we can focus on the playoffs. It was tough to get through this game at times. Obviously, if we were able to knock down free throws and minimize turnovers we might have had a chance to win." The Cavaliers made only 20-for-36 free throws and committed 15 turnovers, leading to 16 points. Without James and Williams, they also struggled from three-point range, going 1-for-14. The loss was the fourth in a row for Cleveland -- not coincidently James didn't play in any of those games -- but did little more than deprive them of a 62nd win, as they had already locked up the top seed in the East. Cleveland welcomes No. 8 Chicago to Quicken Loans Arena when the playoffs open this weekend. Atlanta, which didn't dress Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford and didn't play starters Josh Smith, Al Horford and Mike Bibby, won its fourth in a row and 12th straight at home. They finished 53-29, the franchise's best record since 1996-97 and good for third in the East. The Hawks host sixth-seeded Milwaukee. "I couldn't be more proud of a group of guys," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson. "Our bench, to come in and play the way they did tonight was just fantastic. And the young rook [Teague], I can't praise him enough. It's been tough on him because he has not played a lot of minutes but he stepped up in a big way." Cleveland scored the game's opening basket, but never led again, trailing 27-23 after the first quarter and 48-46 at the half.
The second half was all Atlanta. The Hawks opened the third quarter on a 19-4 run, with Teague scoring eight of his 10 of the quarter. They blew the game open later in the quarter, as Mario West, making his first career start, drove baseline and put home a powerful one-hand slam off a feed from the foul line by Mo Evans. On the ensuing possession, Evans stole the ball from Hickson and led Teague for a breakaway jam that put Atlanta up 17 and led Brown to call a 20-second timeout. The Hawks outscored the Cavs 29-14 in the stanza, shooting nearly 62 percent, while holding Cleveland to 31 percent. An 11-2 run to start the fourth gave Atlanta its biggest lead at 88-62, and the Cavaliers would get no closer than 16 the rest of the way. "It was a great collective effort tonight," said West, who finished with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting. "We wanted to go out and get the job done collectively and that's what we were able to do." Next up, the playoffs, the icing on the cake, or something like it.
"I'm like a kid in a candy store," said Teague. "I'm the youngest guy on the team so I'm just running around happy and things like that. Guys are telling me to calm down it's the playoffs. I'm excited. I've never been a part of anything like this." For Cleveland, even though there was a modicum of disappointment over the loss, the overwhelming feeling was one of relief and getting to look toward the playoffs. "This is a game we still wanted to win even with our main guys not playing tonight," said Hickson. "I'm excited about getting a chance to go to the playoffs. We just have to stay focused on the goal of winning ball games." "Games like this get you prepared for the playoffs and help guys get in the right frame of mind," added Brown. "We are focusing on playing a physical and tough-minded Chicago Team. We are ready for the challenge."