ATLANTA: Feeling the pressure of a series and a season getting away, Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer made drastic changes to his lineup and rotation Friday night. It nearly worked.
But nobody accounted for Channing Frye.
Frye scored 27 points off the bench, LeBron James had 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists and the Cavaliers made 21 3-pointers in a 121-108 victory to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Cavs can sweep the Hawks out of the playoffs for the second time in as many years with a Game 4 victory Sunday afternoon at Philips Arena.
Budenholzer shook up his lineup Friday, sending Kyle Korver to the bench and starting Thabo Sefolosha in an effort to better defend — particularly around the 3-point line. He also played Kris Humphries extensively after the Hawks had good success with Humphries during the regular season and intentionally fouled Tristan Thompson at various points in the game.
It was a drastic move for Budenholzer, who started the same lineup (barring injury) every game since Dec. 14. It was also the first time Korver came off the bench in three years. Korver matched his best 3-point shooting night in two years against the Cavs, while Humphries and Sefolosha both played well.
The Hawks led by as many as 11 in the third quarter and maintained a 91-85 lead going to the fourth. But Kyrie Irving and Frye combined for the Cavs’ first 14 points in the fourth and James retook the lead for the Cavs on a 3-pointer with 6:23 left.
A steal by J.R. Smith on the Hawks’ next possession led to a transition dunk for Frye and a 106-103 lead that forced the Hawks to call a timeout.
It was too late. The Cavs rolled the rest of the night despite turning the ball over 20 times and allowing the Hawks to shoot 49 percent from the floor — easily their best mark of the series.
“We have two of the best one-on-one players in the world,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “We had to go to it sooner than we wanted at the start of the fourth quarter. I just told Kyrie I wanted him to be aggressive, look to play fast early and try to play without the screen at times. He did a great job of carrying us offensively.”
Irving scored 24 points and Love scored 21. The Cavs have made a staggering 46 3-pointers in their last two games and they’re dominating inside, too. They outrebounded the Hawks 55-28 Friday behind Thompson’s 13 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds, in just 27 minutes despite shooting just 5-of-12 from the free-throw line.
Love scored the first 13 points for the Cavs before falling into foul trouble in the third quarter. Love’s foul trouble simply provided another opportunity for Frye.
The Cavs acquired Frye at the trade deadline in an effort to add another shooter on the floor. Lue thought the combination of Love and Frye gave the Hawks problems defensively.
“Channing is an excellent 3-point shooter,” Lue said. “[Frye and Love] opened up the floor for Kyrie and LeBron to get to the basket. Channing did a great job of taking his shots. We wanted him to be aggressive taking his shots and he made them tonight.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs.