Two of the Eastern Conference's top five teams stepped onto the court for a Friday night NBA battle. When the dust had settled, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks scored a combined 265 points in what seems like an anomaly for the two teams. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were in top form while a former Hawks player came up big when it counted most to help in the Cavs' 135-130 victory. The game also featured both teams shooting about 54 percent on the night, with Atlanta even winning the battle of the boards by 10, but still falling short.

The Cavs' dynamic duo

The Cavaliers tandem of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined for 81 points together. King James scored 38 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds and finishing with eight assists. He was 14-of-27 from the floor and hit six of 10 three-point shot attempts. Teammate Kyrie Irving put up 43 points on the night. Irving shot better than LeBron, hitting 14-of-21 form the field, while also connecting on 5-of-8 three-pointers and all 10 free throw attempts. Irving also had nine assists in the win. The Cleveland Cavs shot an impressive 54.7 percent for the game, going 47-of-86 for their field goals and 25-for-46 from three-point range. Of note, new team member Andrew Bogut has yet to paly for the Cavs and did not travel with the team to Atlanta.

Hawks shoot well, come up short

At the half, the Atlanta Hawks trailed 77-60 and it got event worse. Atlanta found themselves down 91-67 in the third quarter but managed to stage a comeback. The team outscored Cleveland 70-58 in the second half and managed to close the score to a one-point lead by Cleveland with 1:31 to go. Former Hawks star Kyle Korver hit a dagger shot, draining a 25-foot three-pointer off a LeBron James pass to widen the margin to a four-point game.

From there, James and Irving closed things out down the stretch with layups and made free throws to seal the deal. Tim Hardaway Jr. came off the bench for Atlanta to score a team-high 36 points in the loss while starter Paul Millsap had 27 points and nine rebounds. Dwight Howard finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.

Standings & what's next

The win kept Cleveland atop the Eastern Conference standings. They now have an overall record of 42-18 and are still three games or more ahead of Boston for the East lead. Cleveland heads to Miami for a Saturday night NBA matchup with the Heat starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Hawks dropped to 34-27 overall and are still at the No. 5 spot in the East. Next up for Atlanta is a Sunday afternoon home game where they'll host the Indiana Pacers starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
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