Cavaliers vs. Hawks: Game 4 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

For the second year in a row, the Cleveland Cavaliers have swept the Atlanta Hawks out of the NBA Playoffs. They did so Sunday on the strength of a thrilling 100-99 victory at Philips Arena.

Cleveland needed only four games to knock Atlanta out in last year's conference finals and staged a similarly dominant effort in a conference semifinals matchup this time around.  

Dennis Schroder fronted a bold final stand for the Hawks as they battled to stay alive in the fourth quarter. The dynamic young point guard scored 13 points in that span but was blocked by Tristan Thompson at the rim with just over a minute left, preserving a 98-97 Cavaliers lead at the time.

Although Schroder got another bucket to respond to a clutch LeBron James jumper on the subsequent possession, the final sequence saw James tie him up for a jump ball, and Atlanta didn't get a last shot off.

James nearly notched a triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in another brilliant all-around performance.

After draining 25 and 21 three-pointers, respectively, in the prior two contests, the Cavs' long-range prowess continued from the beginning in Game 4, and they wound up with 16 makes on 37 attempts from downtown. Kevin Love made eight three-pointers and had a team-high 27 points to go with 13 rebounds.

Today's Fastbreak's Will Reeve tweeted an appropriate reaction to Cleveland's hot start as Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and Love poured it on early:

To its credit, Atlanta regrouped well out of a timeout trailing 11-7 from the initial Cavs barrage, largely thanks to two quick fouls from Thompson.

Hawks reserve Kris Humphries hit two treys to help the hosts hang tough while the Cavs continued to execute at a high level on offense. An 8-0 run to close out the opening quarter gave Atlanta a 36-27 edge as its bid to stave off elimination looked good to that juncture.

Paul Millsap had 15 points in the first quarter to pace the Hawks. Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders analyzed why Millsap was so successful:

But Cleveland consistently found clean looks from deep, as Irving and Love played a beautiful two-man game with James getting rest on the bench, leading to three Love three-pointers in the second quarter.

Iman Shumpert even contributed two jumpers from distance, bringing the Cavs' first-half total to 10, which helped offset Atlanta's first-half shooting percentage of 56.1 and limited the Hawks' lead to 58-56.

Love filled it up for three quick threes off James assists to put Cleveland out in front 68-66 at the 8:45 mark in the third quarter.

The Cauldron's Nate Duncan wondered why Atlanta was sticking so adamantly to its man-to-man defense in light of Love's hot streak:

Five of the Cavaliers' nine field goals in the third quarter were three-pointers, allowing the visitors to carry an 81-77 lead into the last 12 minutes, with the difference being a Love four-point play off yet another beautiful feed from James:

"

Kevin Love corner 4! #NBARapidReplay https://t.co/gNlwaHQr4q

— NBA (@NBA) May 8, 2016"

CBS Sports reacted to Love's phenomenal shooting display—one that added up to eight treys through three quarters:

SportsCenter noted how Sunday's contest marked the third straight in which a Cavs player made at least seven three-pointers.

The first 36 minutes set the stage for the Hawks' last stand in front of their home fans, with the only consolation being sending the series back to Cleveland. They almost got the job done but couldn't get over the hump.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon focused on Schroder's strong finish in the aftermath of Game 4:

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey raised a fair point following Atlanta's playoff exit:

A variety of nifty reactions rolled in once Cleveland capped off the win:

"

Cavs sweep the Hawks, advance to ECF pic.twitter.com/mZyRbjoOlv

— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) May 8, 2016"

"

Cavs headed back to Cleveland after that sweep like pic.twitter.com/O6Q0cWMX3N

— Matty Cleveland (@MarronMatt) May 8, 2016"

The Hawks must be disappointed to fall so short against Cleveland for the second year in a row. Something in Atlanta must change, because its current core of players is evidently not enough to contend for a Larry O'Brien Trophy.

With All-Star big man Al Horford slated to hit free agency this summer and point guard Jeff Teague to do so the next year, the Hawks have big impending decisions regarding how they'll build their team for the future.

As for the Cavs, they have yet to lose in the 2016 playoffs with a perfect 8-0 mark. Their high level of play will once again be rewarded in the form of ample rest before the next series, which is huge for everyone on the team, most importantly James and Irving.

Injuries have beset the 24-year-old Irving throughout his young career, including during last year's postseason, when James also had to make up for Love's injury-induced absence by carrying a massive workload.

Cleveland's supporting cast is doing a far better job this postseason of taking pressure off James thus far. That trend will need to continue if the Cavs are going to capture their first-ever championship.

Postgame Reaction

Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue admired the effort his team showed to grind through a closeout win, saying, per the team's official Twitter feed, "I'm proud of this team. We were tested tonight."

Lue also applauded Love for not losing his confidence and rising to the occasion when the Cavs needed him Sunday, per NBA TV:

Irving spoke about the lengthy minutes he played and emphasized how that type of work is what's required to thrive in the postseason, per Fox Sports Ohio:

James spoke about how excited he was to have both Irving and Love healthy for this year's playoffs:

Hawks swingman Kent Bazemore implied to the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Chris Vivlamore that Atlanta's strategy was to allow Love to be the one to determine the outcome, as opposed to Irving or James:

"(Kevin) Love was on fire tonight. He did exactly what we dared him to do."

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer built on Bazemore's point in saying, per Vivlamore, "We tried to take away significant parts of their team and significant parts of their offense. Our players executed everything we asked."

Millsap lamented the missed opportunity to exact vengeance on the Cavs—or even come close to doing so.

"We wanted to beat this team so bad. It left a bad taste in our mouth last year," Millsap said, per Vivlamore.