Cavaliers' Home Winning Streak Comes To End In Loss To Hawks

Cleveland fell to 10-1 at home this season with a 135-124 defeat to Atlanta on Wednesday night.

Nov 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) brings the ball up court beside Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) in the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

Early on in their contest on Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers seemed poised to move to 18-1 to begin the 2024-25 season.

Just over halfway through the first quarter, the Wine and Gold held a 27-8 lead over the Atlanta Hawks.

However, Cleveland was outscored 27-8 to end the period tied at 35-35, and eventually fell to Atlanta by a final score of 135-124. After winning each of their first 10 home games to start the season, this defeat marks the Cavaliers' first home loss of the campaign.

While the Wine and Gold trailed 97-96 to begin the fourth quarter, they went ahead 109-102 with 8:46 remaining. But the Hawks had a resounding answer, going on a 15-1 run over the next 3:33 and retaining the lead the rest of the way.

Despite shooting just 4-for-14 (28.6%) from beyond the arc, Donovan Mitchell led the way for Cleveland with a game-high 30 points, recording his sixth 30-point game of the season. Evan Mobley also had a productive contest, tallying 22 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, and five assists, while tying his season-highs of four steals and three blocks.

Nov 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) brings the ball up court beside Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) in the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

Although the Wine and Gold reached the 120-point mark for the 11th time this season, the team shot a season-worst 31.3% (15-for-48) from beyond the arc. Cleveland's 46.3% clip from the field was its second-worst of the campaign as well.

Defensively, the Cavaliers' 135 points allowed were a season-high. And after giving up a combined 20 triples across their previous two contests, they allowed 20 triples on Wednesday night.

Cleveland will not have to wait long to avenge this defeat, as it will face the Hawks in Atlanta on Friday, November 29 at 2:30 p.m. in its penultimate NBA Cup Group Play game of the season.