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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers once again turned to
some tight defense down the stretch to win.
Cleveland forced six turnovers and blocked three shots in the
fourth quarter, and Lamond Murray made key plays at both ends of
the court in a 97-90 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
"It was nothing that's been uncommon in our 12 wins," coach
Randy Wittman said. "Our defense down the stretch pulled it out."
In the Cavaliers' 12 victories, their opponents have averaged
only 20.1 points in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland entered Saturday's game allowing 91.6 points per game,
sixth best in the league.
Murray scored nine of his 18 points in the final quarter as
Cleveland (12-7) won its third in a row.
"We knew we had to pick up the intensity on defense," Murray
said. "We forced them to miss shots and that just gave us a chance
to run our offense."
He stole the ball from Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo with 27
seconds to play and was fouled. Murray made one free throw to give
Cleveland a 93-88 lead.
Jason Terry scored a career-high 32 points for the Hawks.
"Yeah, but that's not what I'm here for," Terry said after
making 14 of 23 shots from the field, mostly on jump shots from the
perimeter. "We didn't get the win. It's frustrating."
Terry's running scoop shot tied the score at 86 with 4:20 left.
The Hawks then missed nine straight shots from the field until
Terry sank a desperation shot at the final buzzer.
"We were right there and in that situation it's a matter of who
converts down the stretch," Hawks coach Lon Kruger said. "Jason
did a terrific job of carrying us and then Cleveland concentrated
on him. We didn't step up and support him."
Murray was just 4-for-12 from the field over the first three
quarters. But he started the fourth quarter with an 18-foot
baseline jumper that gave Cleveland a 74-71 lead.
Cedric Henderson, Andre Miller and Matt Harpring all scored 15
points for Cleveland. Henderson was 5-for-5 from both the field and
foul line.
"We got the ball out on the break," Henderson said.
"Finishing those shots should be easy. It's the hard work at the
other end that is the difference in this team."
Mutombo, DerMarr Johnson and Matt Maloney all scored 11 points
for Atlanta (4-16), which lost its third in a row.
The Hawks led 39-31, when Harpring scored six straight points to
spark the Cavaliers. Harpring and Henderson each had 11 points in
the first half as Cleveland used a 12-2 run to lead 55-51 at
halftime.
Terry scored eight points during a 10-0 Atlanta run midway
through the third quarter that tied the score at 65.
Game notes
Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas tied a career high with
six blocked shots. ... Mutombo played in his 700th NBA game. ...
Atlanta has won 15 of the teams' last 20 meetings. ... Atlanta is
1-10 on the road this season. ... In the Cavs' three wins this
week, point guard Miller averaged 18.3 points, 8.3 assists, 6.0
rebounds and just 2.6 turnovers.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 99
Charlotte 96
Cleveland 97
Atlanta 90
New York 96
Denver 88
Minnesota 85
LA Clippers 73
Milwaukee 99
Washington 91
San Antonio 105
Chicago 81
Utah 125
Golden State 114
Portland 114
Detroit 83
Houston 111
Seattle 104
Philadelphia 83
Vancouver 79
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