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Final: That does it, folks. I am Jeffrey Waitkevich, signing off.

Final: Here is the box score for your enjoyment.

Final: The Hawks fought hard and almost stole this game even after Al Horford was ejected. But they are now down 0-3 in the series and this series is all but over.

Final: James finishes with a huge triple-double, 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists!

Final: Cavaliers are now 1 game away from the NBA Finals.

Final: Hawks 111 Cavaliers 114.

​Overtime (:00): Mack got two attempts at a three and missed both! Cavaliers win!!!

​Overtime (:12): Hawks 111 Cavaliers 114.

Timeout Atlanta!

​Overtime (:12): James attacks the rim and finishes!

​Overtime (:31): Ruling on the floor stands. It's Cleveland ball with an extra second added.

​Overtime (:30): From a different angle, it looks as if Shumpert may have gotten it last.

​Overtime (:30): Teague misses a layup and the ball goes out. Refs checking to see who's ball it is, but it looks like it's off Carroll.

​Overtime (:36): Hawks 111 Cavaliers 112.

Timeout Atlanta!

​Overtime (:36): James answers back with a huge three of his own!!! Credit Thompson for that offensive rebound!

​Overtime (:55): Teague dances on Thompson, steps back and bangs in a three!!!

​Overtime (2:18): Teague makes both free throws!

​Overtime (2:18): Teague gets to the rim and draws a foul again. That's what he needs to do.

​Overtime (2:35): Carroll is back into the game. He took a seat after hurting his knee.

​Overtime (2:35): Hawks 106 Cavaliers 109.

Timeout Cleveland. James is hurting a bit.

​Overtime (3:29): Smith uses another fake and steps to the side for a three!

​Overtime (3:56): Thompson is unable to complete the three-point play.

​Overtime (3:56): Thompson with a powerful finish at the rim plus a foul!

​Overtime (4:07): Teague knocks down both of his foul shots.

​Overtime (4:07): James tweaked his ankle again. Carroll is also hurting.

​Overtime (4:07): Teague draws a foul with another aggressive play. He will head to the line for two.

Overtime (5:00): Hawks control the tip!

​Q4 (:00): Teague misses a three. Overtime!!!

​Q4 (:18): Balls in

​Q4 (:18): Shumpert gets 1 of 2. It's tied at 104! Timeout Atlanta!

​Q4 (:18): Scott is rejected by Thompson! Shumpert is fouled by Carroll. He goes to the line to try and give the Cavs the lead!

​Q4 (:57): Thompson takes it to the rim and puts it in!!

​Q4 (1:24): James gets 1 of 2.

​Q4 (1:24): James is fouled on a rebound, and the Hawks are out of fouls. James to the line for two.

​Q4 (1:38): Hawks 104 Cavaliers 100.

​Q4 (1:38): Teauge makes another attack and floats it in! Great play! He took it right at Thompson who didn't want to foul out.

​Q4 (1:53): Offensive foul on LeBron James! Huge call. Great defense by Carroll. Hawks ball, they are up 2!

​Q4 (2:51): Teague gets the step on James and goes high off the glass for the finish!

​Q4 (3:18): Hawks 100 Cavaliers 100.

Timeout Atlanta!

​Q4 (3:26): Smith uses a fake and he hits a three! Incredible!

​Q4 (3:52): Bazemore fires and drills a three!! Huge shot!

​Q4 (4:19): James with a strong attack to the rack and he scores!

​Q4 (4:32): Bazemore puts in both free throws. Hawks lead by 2!

​Q4 (4:32): Bazemore makes a strong drive, and he is fouled and will go to the line. Shumpert now has five fouls.

​Q4 (4:59): Bodies on the floor as both teams hustle for the loose ball!

​Q4 (5:36): Bazemore puts in both free throws out of the timeout. Tie game!

​Q4 (5:36): Hawks 93 Cavaliers 95.

Timeout!

​Q4 (5:36): Loose ball foul on LeBron James and now Bazemore will get to the line for two foul shots.

​Q4 (5:55): LeBron James is now playing center.

​Q4 (6:09): Millsap knocks in all three free throws.

​Q4 (6:09): Millsap is now fouled behind the arc by Thompson! Thompson picks up his fifth foul!

​Q4 (6:21): James swivels his way to the rim and dunks it down!

​Q4 (6:31): Millsap puts in both free throws. It's down to three!

​Q4 (6:31): Millsap is fouled down low, and he heads to the line. Cavs are out of fouls.

​Q4 (6:44): Cleveland has 17 offensive rebounds. That's all Thompson outworking everyone right there.

​Q4 (7:10): Scott drills both foul shots.

​Q4 (7:10): Carroll harrasses Smith and takes the ball away, which leads to Mike Scott being fouled in transition.

​Q4 (7:31): Teague takes it at Thompson and scores a floater.

​Q4 (8:07): Hawks 84 Cavaliers 93.

Timeout Atlanta!

​Q4 (8:49): Dellavedova finds Shumpert ofr a corner triple!

​Q4 (9:10): Jeff Teague puts on the jets and explodes to the rim for a layup.

​Q4 (9:16): James gets both free throws.

​Q4 (9:16): James is hacked and fouled on the other end.

​Q4 (9:36): Teague hits both free throws!

​Q4 (9:36): Teague makes another aggressive move and draws a foul. He needs to continue to be aggressive.

​Q4 (10:11): Bazemore and Teague collaborate to steal the ball away from Dellavedova which leads to a Mack layup.

​Q4 (10:37): Thompson gets a dunk and just like that the Cavs are on a 7-0 run with James on the bench. Good find by Smith.

​Q4 (11:08): Smith knocks down both foul shots.

​Q4 (11:08): Smith is now fouled and he heads to the line for two.

​Q4 (11:22): James Jones drills a corner three!!

​Q4 (11:41): Millsap hits both!

​Q4 (11:41): Millsap is fouled and heads to the line for two.

Q4 (12:00): Final 12 minutes underway!

LeBron James' monstrous dunk!

Q3 (:00): Looks like the Hawks are starting to lose their edge with Horford in the locker room.

Q3 (:00): LeBron James had 15 points in that quarter. He has 25 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists. This after he started the game 0 for 10.

Q3 (:00): Hawks 76 Cavaliers 81.

Q3 (:00): So that does it for the third quarter.

Q3 (:11): Bazemore misses both free throws!

Q3 (:11): Bazemore will go to the line for two.

Q3 (:11): After review, it's just a loose ball foul. No flagrant.

Q3 (:11): Bazemore is elbowed in the face by J.R. Smith. Refs checking to see if it's a flagrant.

Q3 (:34): Mack knocks down a three! What a game he's had.

Q3 (:46): James tips in a miss.

Q3 (:54): Scott hits a two underneath.

Q3 (1:00): James posterizes two Hawks players!!! WOWOWOW!

Q3 (1:30): James makes 1 of 2.

Q3 (1:30): James is now fouled and will head to the line.

Q3 (1:48): Millsap answers back with a two down low.

Q3 (2:06): James squares up Millsap and drills a long two.

Q3 (2:23): Hawks 69 Cavaliers 74.

Timeout Cleveland!

Q3 (2:25): Great feed to Millsap for a easy lay in inside the paint.

Q3 (2:59): Shumpert puts in a long jumper. It was just a tie game moments ago, but the Cavaliers are back up by 7.

Q3 (3:25): James makes a strong move to the basket and scores!

Q3 (3:51): James has a triple-double.

Q3 (3:51): Dellavedova swishes home a three!

Q3 (4:10): Shelvin Mack, who has played extremely well, knocks down a long two!

Q3 (5:12): Scott hits another shot with a smaller Dellavedova on him.

Q3 (5:38): James is one assist away from a triple-double.

Q3 (5:51): Carroll drills a corner three!

Q3 (6:10): LeBron James with a no look dish to Mozgov for a reverse layup!

Q3 (6:29): Mike Scott nails a corner two out of that timeout.

Q3 (6:44): Hawks 58 Cavaliers 65.

Timeout Atlanta!

Q3 (6:44): And now Paul Millsap is called for a goaltend on James' shot off the spin.

Q3 (7:14): Thompson makes a beautiful cut to the basket and James finds him for two!

Q3 (7:33): Teague makes a great aggressive play and his shot is goaltended by Mozgov.

Q3 (7:59): James grabs Sumpert's miss and follows up with a two of his own.

Q3 (8:30): Mozgov hits a corner jumper. Nice touch.

Q3 (8:57): Millsap bullies his way into the paint and scores. Great, strong move.

Q3 (9:12): Shumpert knocks down a corner three!

Q3 (9:46): Millsap responds with a huge three!

Q3 (10:04): Thompson cleans up LeBron's miss with an easy two inside.

Q3 (10:54): James ducks in for two!

Q3 (11:03): The second half starts with a handful of fouls, a James offensive foul, a Tristan Thompson defensive foul, and a Kent Bazemore defensive foul.

Halftime: In case you missed it, here is the incident that took place where Horford got ejected.

Halftime: The ball movement and man movement has also been solid for the Hawks as they have compiled 13 team assists.

Halftime: The Hawks three-point shooting has been much better, hitting 50 percent of their attempts in that half.

Halftime: Matthew Dellavedova leads the Cavs in scoring with 14 of his own.

Halftime: Al Horford's loss is a crushing blow for the Hawks. He scored a team-high 14 points in that half and was aggressive right from the start.

Halftime: Hawks 49, Cavaliers 48

Q2 (0:34): Teague and Dellavedova each make one technical free throw and the Hawks lead, 49-48.

Q2 (0:34): Horford is assessed a flagrant 2 foul and he is ejected from the game. Dellavedova picks up a technical foul, as well.

Q2 (0:57): Atlanta goes on a an 8-5 run (via Carroll and Teague triples and a Horford bucket while Smith makes a long jumper and Dellavedova makes a triple). Hawks lead, 48-47.

Q2 (2:53): Mozgov makes a layup and the Cavaliers lead, 42-40. Cleveland is currently on a 12-2 run.

Q2 (3:07): James is fouled and he makes both free throws. This game is now tied up, 40-40.

Q2 (3:29): James Jones makes a triple and the Hawks lead, 40-38.

Q2 (3:44): LeBron James gets the steal and slam and Horford replies with two points of his own. Hawks lead, 40-35.

Q2 (4:22): Mozgov is fouled and he makes 1 of 2 at the line. Hawks lead 38-33.

Q2 (5:12): JR Smith scores on an inbounds play with 0.9 left on the shot clock. Cavaliers trail, 38-32.

Q2 (5:45): James and Horford trade buckets in the paint and the Hawks lead, 38-30.

Q2 (6:18): Carroll gets the swat on James on one end and Shelvin Mack makes a triple on the other. Hawks lead 36-28.

Q2 (7:04): LeBron James makes a layup for his first field goal make of the game. Hawks lead, 33-28.

Q2 (7:44): Carroll makes a layup and the Hawks lead, 33-26.

Q2 (8:05): LeBron James is fouled and he makes both free throws. He is finally on the board but the Cavaliers still trail 31-26.

Q2 (8:21): Mike Scott makes a beautiful pass to Jeff Teague on a backdoor cut and the Hawks lead, 31-24.

Q2 (9:17): Horford scores on a nice layup and the Hawks now hold a 29-24 lead.

Q2 (9:56): He isn't going to Baze less! Bazemore makes a triple and the Hawks take a 27-24 lead.

Q2 (10:12): Tristan Thompson is fouled but he can't get either of his free throws to drop.

Q2 (10:39): Dellavedova makes another triple and this game is knotted up at 24 apiece.

Here is your box score after 12 minutes of action (via nba.com):

End of Q1: Hawks 24, Cavaliers 21

Q1 (1:08): JR Smith slams Dennis Shroder's layup attempt against the backboard and Dellevadova makes a triple. Hawks lead, 24-21.

Q1 (2:43): Shelvin Mack makes a triple and the Hawks' lead is six, 24-18.

Q1 (3:01): James Jones gets fouled shooting a three (Reggie Miller would be proud) and he makes all three. Hawks lead, 21-18.

Q1 (3:28): JR Smith draws the foul and the ball finds its way into the hoop. He can't convert on the and-1 and the Cavaliers trail, 21-15.

Q1 (4:14): Jeff Teague is fouled and both his free throws find the bottom of the net. Hawks lead, 21-13.

Q1 (4:21): Shumpert makes his second triple of the game and this one comes from way downtown. Hawks lead, 19-13.

Q1 (4:50): Jr Smith and Jeff Teague trade three-pointers and the score is 19-10, in favor of the Hawks.

Q1 (5:21): Shelvin Mack drives and is fouled; he misses both free throws, though, and the score remains unchanged.

Q1 (5:48): Paul Millsap gets fouled and he makes them both. Hawks lead, 16-7.

Q1 (6:07): He isn't going to Baze less! Bazemore scores in transition and the Hawks are up 14-7.

Q1 (6:59): Shumpert ends the run with a triple and the Cavaliers trail 12-7.

Q1 (7:19): Horford makes another midrange jumper and he leads all scorers with 6. The Hawks now lead, 12-4. David Blatt wants to talk it over and he calls timeout.

Q1 (8:07): Millsap makes two free throws and Horford converts on consecutive jumpers and Demarre Carroll scores in transition as the Hawks go on a 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead.

Q1 (10:14): Horford converts on a turnaround jumper and Dellavedova replies with two points of his own. Cavaliers lead, 4-2.

Q1 (10:47): Matthew Dellevadova is fouled and he knows down both free throws to get the first points on the board. Cavaliers lead, 2-0.

It's gametime, NBA fans! Get your popcorn ready; here comes some playoff basketball!

Here is your Atlanta Hawks starting lineup:

With 13 minutes before gametime, Shaq is making puns about Tristan Thompson giving Timofey Mozgov a bloody nose. Can this game start already?

Official: Kyrie Irving (knee) is out tonight.

"It's definitely a challenge, but we're looking forward to tonight." -Al Horford

Interesting...

Kyrie Irving is now a game-time decision, according to head coach David Blatt. Irving is currently seeing doctors to determine an official status.

By the way, check out this beautiful sight at the Quicken Loans Arena hours prior to the game. A sea full of gold. Looks awesome!

Without question, this is a must win for the Hawks. They cannot go down 0-3 since no teams have came back from an 0-3 series deficit. However, if the Hawks couldn't win in front of their home crowd, then it will be ultra-difficult for them to win in a hostile environment at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Here is how Korver suffered his playoff-ending injury:

Furthermore, Kyle Korver has been an absolute non-factor during these playoffs. In the season, he was averaging 12.1 points on 48.7 percent shooting from the field and 49.2 percent from three-point distance. In the playoffs, he has been averaging 11.1 points on 39.1 percent shooting from the field and 35.5 percent from threes. And now, to add salt to wound, Korver is out for the remainder of the playoffs due to an ankle injury he suffered during the late stages of Game 2. In his absence, Kent Bazemore is expected to take the starting two guard position. Bazemore has probably been the only Hawk who has played with a lot of energy and intensity, but it has not been enough to fire up his teammates.

Speaking of those All-Stars, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague were both contained in Game 2. The two combined for 16 points on 7 of 24 shooting. Millsap ended the game with four points and five rebounds, which is highly inexcusable. Meanwhile, Teague needs to be more aggressive. He is too quick and athletic to be just a jump shooter. He has to attack the rim and put pressure on the defense.

Lastly, the most simplest answer of all has been that the Hawks do not have a superstar player. This may be a cliché, but it's true. The Hawks do have four All-Stars, but none have been tagged with the superstar label for obvious reasons. Without a superstar, it's hard for the Hawks to give it to anyone of their players to find easy offense. After all, championship teams are built around superstars, and the Hawks don't have any, plain and simple.

Their first problem has been their lack of mental toughness. They have simply been getting outplayed, outhustled, and outmuscled by the Cavaliers. They haven't been able to match the physicality and intensity of Cleveland. The second problem is the pace of the game. As the game has slowed down during these playoffs, so has Atlanta's offense. The Hawks were great during the season because they were able to run and pass the ball gracefully in semi-transition to get quality shots. But during the playoffs, the game has been slower, and the Hawks look miserable in half court sets. It's just a bunch of dribble handoffs that lead to nothing. Or it's a forced Kyle Korver three-pointer that has been ineffective, as he is shooting 39 percent during the playoffs after shooting over 49 percent in the season.

The big question people are asking themselves is, what is wrong with the Hawks? This is a team that won 60 games during the regular season but have had plenty of troubles throughout the playoffs. They barely squeezed by the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards but are well on their way to being eliminated by the Cavaliers.

With the Cavs taking the first two games in Atlanta, they now have the perfect opportunity to sweep the Hawks. Irving (knee) is deemed questionable for this game despite attending practice on Saturday. However, with the way Cleveland's role players have played and LeBron's all-around dominance, Irving may not need to force his way into this game and can continue to rest that knee.

In case you haven't seen it yet, James was wired up for sound during Game 2. Here is a perfect video demonstrating his leadership skills:

Going back to LeBron James' leadership talked about earlier, he has been absolutely phenomenal in that regards. We all forget that the Cavaliers are an inexperienced team outside of LeBron. None of the other players have gone this far into the playoffs in their careers. Only James has, and he has been in the ears of all his teammates, gracefully guiding them through this series.

Tristan Thompson has been another key factor to Cleveland's success. Filling in for Love, Thompson has been fantastic. He may not score much, as he only had seven points on Friday, but he still makes his presence felt on the defensive end. Thompson had two blocks and 16 rebounds, 11 defensively, and was a plus-21 on the floor in Game 2.

Here are the highlights of Game 2:

And as it has been said many times before through social media outlets, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Smith and Shumpert have been just that, as the Cavaliers got a huge steal in that trade with the Knicks earlier in the year.

Iman Shumpert is the other former Knicks player who has been playing superb basketball. In Game 2, he went off for 16 points on 4 of 6 shooting from three-point range. Aside from his offense, Shumpert's defense on Kyle Korver has been crucial. He has held Korver to 10.5 points on 43 percent shooting from the field. He is masterfully chasing Korver around and preventing him from getting clean looks.

J.R. Smith was always criticized for his poor shot selection and lack of passion for the game when he was with the New York Knicks. LeBron's leadership has changed all that in a matter of months. Smith is now more focused than he has ever been in his career and has accepted the sixth man role during these playoffs. He has been providing immediate offense off the bench, and in Game 1, he was simply lethal, scoring 28 points while knocking down eight three-pointers.

In this stretch, LeBron James has been a man amongst boys. He has singlehandedly carried the Cavaliers in this series. Whether it's scoring, rebounding, dishing, or defending, he has done it all. Once again, James is demonstrating that he is still the best player in the game. Not only is he carrying his team to victory without two of the big three, but he has made players around him so much better.

What an unbelievable series this has been for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they stole not just one game but two games in Atlanta to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. They trounced the Hawks in Game 2 despite not having Kyrie Irving and of course Kevin Love.

Hello, NBA fans and welcome to Game 3 betwen the Atlanta Hawks vs Cleveland Cavaliers Live score from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. I am your host for tonight, Jeffrey Waitkevich.

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About the author
Jeffrey Waitkevich
I write about basketball and tennis. I am a strong believer in Magic but only in Orlando.