After finally flipping the Cavoltron playoff-mode switch against the Celtics on Tuesday, the Cavs flipped the switch back to lackadaisical no defense whatsoever chill-mode. The Cavs played the game as though they were were the hare and the undermanned Hawks were the tortoise in the Aesop fable. Through the first three quarters it worked. The Hawks would build a lead, then the Cavs would race back to tie the game, then take another effort breather. Then Tim Hardaway Jr. happened in the fourth, and it was too late.
With the Hawks resting Paul Millsap, Dwight Howard, Dennis Schroder, Kent Basemore, and Thabo Sefolosha, a zoo crew led by a pair of juniors outplayed the Cavs on their own floor.