Okongwu scores 29 as Hawks hold off Cavaliers 114-111

Nickeil Alexander-Walker made two free throws with 15.3 seconds left to lift the Atlanta Hawks over the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-111 on Thursday, October 29, and Onyeka Okongwu scored 29 points.

Atlanta (3-3) trailed 31-16 in the second quarter after scoring 16 in the first. An 11-0 run late in the half put the Hawks up 41-37, and their largest lead, 57-46, came early in the third quarter.

Cleveland (3-2) closed that gap. Okongwu assisted Alexander-Walker's layup with 1:27 to play, and Donovan Mitchell then made three free throws to cut Atlanta's lead to 109-110.

Okongwu answered with a two-point shot with 28.2 seconds left for a 112-109 lead. Mitchell's basket made it 111-112, Alexander-Walker's pair settled the score, and Cleveland had no time to respond before the buzzer.

Okongwu shot 11-of-17 and grabbed 12 rebounds. Alexander-Walker finished with 25 points, going 4-of-12 from three and 5-of-5 at the line.

James Harden led Cleveland with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting, and Mitchell had 22 on 7-of-19, missing eight of his nine threes. Sam Merrill added 16 off the bench.

Atlanta won the rebounding battle 53-45 and had 15 offensive rebounds to Cleveland's nine. The Hawks hit 17 threes at 39.5 percent; the Cavaliers were 13-of-42.

Aaron Wiggins scored 20 points in 24 minutes off the bench for Atlanta and was a plus-17.

Up next

Cavaliers: at the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, October 31.

Hawks: at the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, October 31.