Shorthanded Hawks pull off stunner over Cavs on road

Friday was a good example that in sports, on any given day, anybody can beat anybody. In one of the weirder games of the NBA season, the Atlanta Hawks sat their entire starting lineup on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers - and still won handily, 114-100.

Yes, a starting lineup of Jose Calderon, Tim Hardaway Jr., Taurean Prince, Ersan Ilyasova, and Kris Humphries held tight with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love before the Hawks closed the game with a 20-2 fourth-quarter run. Mike Dunleavy, Mike Muscala, and Malcolm Delaney combined for 43 points off the bench.

By sitting Paul Millsap, Dwight Howard, Dennis Schroder, Kent Bazemore, and Thabo Sefolosha, the thought was the Hawks were punting on the second night of a back-to-back after a big win over the Boston Celtics Thursday. Instead, Atlanta has now knocked off the East's top-two teams in as many nights.

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As they try to clinch their 10th consecutive playoff appearance, the Hawks may have turned a corner. Atlanta had been the losers of nine of 11 before the Boston win, with two losses coming at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets by a combined 24 points.

They now complete a home-and-home with the Cavs Sunday in Atlanta, and will be able to clinch a postseason berth then. Odds are Cleveland might be motivated, however.