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LeBron, Cavs try to regroup against Hawks

Dec 30, 2014 - 2:59 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will have vengeance on their mind Tuesday night when they travel to Philips Arena to take on the Atlanta Hawks.

On Dec. 17, the Cavs were dominated by the Hawks, the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference, 127-98, in Cleveland. The 127 points allowed is a season- high for the Cavs.

As if that loss wasn't enough motivation, the Cavaliers are coming off a 103-80 home defeat at the hands of the Detroit Pistons last time out. That Sunday loss was the second in the last three and the 80 points marked the second-worst offensive output of the season.

"We're not a very good team," James said after the Pistons' loss. "As far as on the court, we're still trying to find our ways as well. We've won some good games, we've lost some games. But right now, we're just not very good in every aspect of the game that we need to be to compete every night."

The Cavaliers shot a woeful 32.8 percent over the final three quarters to lose for just the second time in their last 11 home outings. The Pistons trailed by 15 early in the second quarter and were down 43-32 midway through the period before putting together an 18-0 run to completely change momentum.

James, who turns 30 on Tuesday, had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but was just 5- of-19 from the floor.

Kevin Love paced Cleveland, playing for a second straight time without injured point guard Kyrie Irving, with 20 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Tristan Thompson posted 18 points and 11 boards in the loss.

Irving is expected to be back on Tuesday.

The Hawks laid an egg of their own recently, a 30-point home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. That trouncing ended a five-game winning streak, but the Hawks atoned.

One night later, in Milwaukee, the Hawks earned their revenge with a 90-85 win.

Jeff Teague had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Hawks. Al Horford posted 20 points and nine rebounds, while Paul Millsap added 17 points and eight boards for the Hawks.

"We didn't shoot it well, but our defense gave us a chance," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said.

Atlanta shot just 36.7 percent (33-of-90) from the field, but held Milwaukee to 38.8 percent shooting. The Hawks scored 22 points off 10 Milwaukee turnovers in the second half and 32 points off 19 giveaways in all.

Despite the demoralizing setback almost two weeks ago, the Cavs bested the Hawks on Nov. 15. The Hawks have won 13 of the last 16 meetings and are 7-1 in the last eight against Cleveland in Atlanta.