Cavs lose finale to Hawks

Associated Press

ATLANTA

In what passed for nothing more than an exhibition game, rookie Jeff Teague set career highs with 24 points and 15 assists and the Atlanta Hawks cruised past the LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers 99-83 in a regular-season finale Wednesday night that had plenty of star power — on the bench.

James finished up his end-of-the-season break, and the Cavaliers also gave Shaquille O’Neal the night off even though he hasn’t played since going out Feb. 25 with a sprained right thumb. At the other end of the court, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford watched in street clothes; the Hawks played only one regular starter, Marvin Williams.

Both teams were already locked into their playoff seedings and saw no reason to risk injury to anyone who might play a key role in the postseason. So just about every recognizable name watched this one from the safety of the sideline, cheering on players such as Atlanta’s Jason Collins and Cleveland’s Jawad Williams.

Teague easily surpassed his previous career highs of 13 points and eight assists. Mario West also had a career-best with 10 points, including a spectacular dunk. Joe Smith had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Jamario Moon led Cleveland with 15 points but only one teammate, J.J. Hickson with 14 points, reached double figures. The pseudo-Cavaliers were particularly inept at the foul line, making only 20 of 36 attempts.

Collins scored 10 points — surpassing his total for the entire season. He even attempted his first 3-pointer since the 2007-08 season (and, no, it didn’t go in).