Hawks shut down LeBron, Cavs for 6th straight win

If any doubts remained about the Atlanta Hawks, the league's top team likely vanquished them Friday.

The Hawks shot 51 percent from the field and shut down LeBron James and the surging Cleveland Cavaliers in a 106-97 victory - their sixth straight - to improve to 49-12.

The Hawks also clinched the season series with the Cavs by beating Cleveland for a third time in four tries. Not that tiebreakers matter much for Atlanta, which holds an 11-game lead over second-place Chicago in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Cavs battled back from a 17-point deficit at the conclusion of the first quarter and had the game tied on a number of occasions late in the third frame, but a 19-4 Hawks run put the game out of reach for good.

Al Horford led another balanced Hawks attack with 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block on 7-of-12 shooting, while Paul Millsap added 16 points and eight rebounds.

Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 20 points in defeat, but the Cavs' All-Star guard also shot 7-of-16 from the field and turned the ball over five times while recording only four assists.

James added nine turnovers himself, while the star-studded trio of he, Irving and Kevin Love combined for a brutal 16-of-40 shooting night.

Love, who left the game briefly in the first half after appearing to suffer a right foot injury, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Hawks need only nine wins in their final 21 games to set a franchise record for victories, and 11 or more wins over that stretch would give the club its first 60-win season in team history.