Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley help Cavaliers hold off Hawks 122-116

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points, Evan Mobley scored 22 points and tied a career-high with 19 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Atlanta Hawks 122-116 on Wednesday night.

James Harden added 21 points for the Cavaliers, who have won four straight and seven of eight. Cleveland (51-29) can finish no lower than fourth place in the Eastern Conference and is half a game behind New York for the third seed.

Announcement

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 25 points and Jonathan Kuminga had 24 off the bench as Atlanta was unable to clinch a playoff berth with the loss. The Hawks (45-35) have lost their last two after winning four straight. They are a game ahead of Toronto for the fifth seed, but only 1 1/2 ahead of Orlando to avoid making the play-in tournament.

It was Mitchell’s 200th regular season game with at least 20 points in four years with the Cavaliers. He is the fifth player in franchise history to reach this milestone.

Mitchell had his 14th game this season with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Atlanta took a 67-56 lead on a Dyson Daniels dunk with 57 seconds left in the first half before Cleveland jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the final minute of the second quarter and the first three minutes of the third.

Announcement

Cleveland outscored Atlanta 44-20 in the third and took a 104-87 lead into the final 12 minutes. A 3-point play by Dennis Schroder put the Cavaliers up 110-92 before the Hawks responded with an 18-2 run in which Alexander-Walker had seven points.

Kuminga’s dunk put Atlanta up 118-116 and had a chance to tie it after Sam Merrill missed a 3-pointer. But Alexander-Walker lost possession of the ball in the box before Jarrett Allen managed to steal it. Mitchell then hit a pair of free throws to put the Cavaliers ahead by more than a possession.

Next

The two teams will meet Friday in Atlanta for the fourth and final time of the regular season.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba