2016 NBA Playoff Round 2 - Game Day 9 |NBA FastBreak Blog

The Cavs held on to win game 4, sweeping the Hawks for the 2nd straight season. Atlanta started strong with 36pts in the 1st qtr on 6-of-11 3-pters, led by Millsap's 15 1st qtr points. Cleveland hit their first 9-of-12 3-pters, but still trailed by as much as 12 in the 2nd qtr. Late in the game, Schroder led a 6-0 run that would put the Hawks up by 1 with 1:31 left on a driving layup. Lebron then had good position under the rim but his shot was blocked by Horford and Lebron missed on 2 offensive tips before the Hawks knocked it out of bounds. On the inbounds play, Lebron cut to the basket and had his shot blocked by Millsap, but it was ruled as a goaltend as the ball had already hit the backboard. Schroder had his shot blocked on the next play by Thompson, and Lebron gave the Cavs a 3pt lead with a stepback jumper with 39sec left. Schroder cut the the lead to 1 with another driving layup, Lebron missed a long 3-pter with 14sec left and the Hawks raced the ball the other way with no timeouts remaining. Schroder drove the lane and pump-faked, but Lebron was able to come over with a double-team and tied the ball up for a jumpball with 2.4sec remaining. Lebron swatted the ball towards the sideline and Smith kept the ball inbounds. Millsap came up with the ball but his after-the-buzzer shot missed and the Cavs held on for a 1pt victory.

Love led all scorers with 27pts, 13reb, and had 8 3-pters through the first 3 quarters, including a 4pt play. James had 21pts, 10reb, 9asts and Irving had 21pts, 8asts, as the big 3 combined for 69pts. The Cavs became the first team in NBA history to make at least 15 3-pters in 4 consecutive games. They have made 77 3's in the series, tied for 2nd most, although they achieved the mark in 4 games compared to the other team's 7 games. They are averaging 16.75 made 3-pters in the playoffs, which is more than the Warriors 13.1 regular season average. The Cavs become only the 9th team in history to begin the playoffs with an 8-0 unbeaten record. Lebron has now led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 6th year in a row - the 2nd year in a row with Cleveland.

OKC tied up the series at 2-2, winning at home against the Spurs by 14 points. OKC trimmed an 11pt deficit in the 2nd qtr, to 4pts to begin the 4th. Kevin Durant took over in the 4th qtr, scoring 17pts on 6-of-6 shooting, singlehandedly outscoring the Spurs who had 16pts in q4. OKC were up only 4 with 2:49 to go, but a 10-0 run by KD and Westbrook turned the game into a blowout. Durant tied his career playoff high with 41pts, scoring 29pts on 10-of-13 shooting in the 2nd half. Westbrook struggled with his shooting, scoring only 14pts, but he added 15 assists whilst Waiters added 17 and Adams 16pts. The Spurs struggled with their offense, finishing the game on 2-of-12 from 3pt range and only 12 assists compared to OKC's 23. The series will return to San Antonio for game 5.

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