Schroder, Bazemore send Cavaliers to first loss

CLEVELAND — Dennis Schroder scored a career-high 28 points and the Atlanta Hawks handed the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss of the season, 110-106 on Tuesday night. (Wednesday in Manila)

 

Cleveland (6-1) cut a 96-81 deficit early in the fourth quarter to 101-97 on LeBron James' basket with 3:14 to play. The Hawks scored the next six points, but 3-pointers by James and Kyrie Irving made it 106-103 with 48 seconds left.

 

Paul Milsap's basket pushed the lead to five, but Kevin Love converted a three-point play with 25 seconds remaining. Bazemore's jumper from the corner with 7 seconds left put the game away.

 

Bazemore scored 25 points while Millsap added 21. Dwight Howard, who received four stitches for a bloody lip in the first half, had 17 rebounds.

 

Irving led Cleveland with 29 points. Love added 24 while James, who scored two points in the first half, had 23.

 

Atlanta finished the second quarter on a 22-6 run to lead 53-42. James didn't score until he hit a jumper late in the first half.

 

Atlanta scored the first five points of the third quarter and stretched the lead to 58-42. James hit two free throws, a 3-pointer and two layups during a 15-3 run that got Cleveland back in the game.

 

J.R. Smith's 3-pointer late in the third period made it a two-point game but Bazemore made three free throws with less than a second remaining in the quarter.

 

Millsap hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play, helping Atlanta rebuild the lead to 96-81, but Cleveland scored the next 10 points and cut the margin to 98-94 on Channing Frye's 3-pointer.

 

Hawks guard Kyle Korver did not travel to Cleveland after the birth of his third child Sunday.

 

Atlanta had lost 11 straight to Cleveland, including playoff sweeps the last two seasons.

 

TIP-INS

 

Hawks: Korver is expected to play Wednesday night when Atlanta hosts Chicago. ... C Mike Muscala took a hard fall to the court after a dunk in the first quarter but remained in the game. ... F Mike Scott (left knee) and C Tiago Splitter (right hamstring) remain sidelined, leaving Atlanta with 12 active players.

 

Cavaliers: F Tristan Thompson was scoreless with two rebounds in 25 minutes. ... Cleveland was 11 of 42 on 3-point attempts. ... Cleveland Indians players Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley attended the game.

 

UP NEXT

 

Hawks: Host Chicago on Wednesday. The Hawks are 3-1 at Philips Arena this season, with their lone loss to the resurgent Lakers.

 

Cavaliers: Visit Washington on Friday. The teams split two games at both Quicken Loans Arena and Verizon Center in 2015-16.