Seeing the Atlanta Hawks tends to do diabolical things to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the case of the 2016 Eastern Conference semifinals, it's apparently transformed Cavs into the Golden State Warriors.
Just 48 hours after setting a new NBA record by drilling 25 threes in their Game 2 win, the Cavs once again rained hellfire from long range. In Friday night's Game 3, they went 21-of-39 from beyond the arc, making them the first team in league history to hit at least 20 triples in back-to-back games, be they regular-season or playoff contests.
That torrent of home-run balls helped them turn an 11-point deficit into a 121-108 win, and a 3-0 series stranglehold. A couple of usual suspects did a big chunk of the damage, and one extremely unusual suspect did the rest.
Power forward Channing Frye, who the Cavs scooped up at the trade deadline in February, went an absurd 7-of-9 from deep, on his way to a game-high (and playoff career-high) 27 points. Kevin Love chipped in with five threes, while Kyrie Irving splashed four.
It was a particularly disappointing result for the Hawks, because they had a scorching shooting night of their own. Thanks in large part to a long-awaited breakout from Kyle Korver, they shot 16-of-34 from 3-point range in the loss. The 37 combined threes tied an NBA playoff record, set last year by the Warriors and Houston Rockets.
