Game 3 Grades: Atlanta Hawks Fight Adversity, Come Up Short

May 24, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) looks on during a time out against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Bad

• Call it bad luck or call it the NBA having it out for the star-less driven Hawks, but the Al Horford fiasco was entirely unfortunate. With just 30 seconds before half-time, Matthew Dellavedova dove into Horford’s knees, taking them out from under him. Sent falling, Al came down somewhat hard with his elbow on Dellavedova’s face, where replays showed it as an attempt to break his fall. Shockingly, after a review, the stoic veteran with nary a malicious bone in his body got an early send off as officials deemed the play an automatic flagrant foul 2. You can watch from every angle you want but that did not warrant such a harsh decision, no doubt when you consider the game’s magnitude. J.R. Smith looked to have a similar foul committed on Kent Bazemore but only a common foul was the verdict.

• He may have started off slow, but when LeBron James decided to take matters into his own hands, he could not be stopped. Realizing the Hawks may be downtrodden entering the third quarter, he scored 15 points, had six rebounds, and six assists in just 12 minutes. He had already gotten his triple-double before the fourth quarter even started. It was a good game plan to start with, allowing James to get his points while locking up the others with man defense, but once he started distributing, he lit up the floor. You knew the night belonged to him when he scored what would be the game dealing three-pointer, his first make of the game after five misses.

Next: The Starters