Apr 1, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks point guard Devin Harris (left) drives past Cleveland Cavaliers small forward Luke Walton (right) during the second half at Philips Arena. Hawks won 102-94. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers danced to an unfortunately familiar tune on Monday night in Atlanta; a song that the Wine and Gold have been listening to for the last nine games. The common theme has been second-half implosions and the piling on of L after L. Even after tripping up the Atlanta Hawks with a tricky zone defense early on, Cleveland could not hang around with the Hawks in the second half.

After falling to the Hawks 102-94 to bring the season series to an even 2-2, Cleveland’s losing streak was extended to nine games. This is still the longest losing streak that the Cavs have been on all season long. As stated earlier, the common theme has been defensive breakdowns.

The leading scorer in this contest, guard Devin Harris, fought hard from the beginning for a season- and game-high 25 points. He scored 11 of Atlanta’s 25 first-quarter points to pace his team to an early 25-19 lead. But, as coach Byron Scott said in his postgame comments, the short-handed Cavs fought to their best ability with the help of a shifting defense. At this point in the season, making little tweaks to a team’s usual scheme means no harm. In fact, many have been calling out to Scott to play around with the players left on the depleting roster.

Some forced bad shots and turnovers allowed the Cavaliers to close the gap from a 10-point deficit to six points entering the second frame. Rookie center Tyler Zeller was a big factor in closing the gap all game long. He scored eight first-half points, but made little noise in the second act.

When the starting bigs (Tristan Thompson and Zeller) went missing, power forward Marreese Speights was there to help lift the team. A player that looked to have disappeared over the past couple weeks emerged in a big way, along with starting point guard Shaun Livingston. Livingston was aggressive in getting to the hoop all night long, and the duo of Speights and Shaun combined for 12 of Cleveland’s 25 second-quarter points.

Those two were a huge reason that everything didn’t fall down once Daniel Gibson got ejected for getting it on with DeShawn Stevenson. Gibson, who looks like he may be well on his way out of Cleveland, was providing good play for the Cavaliers in his 10 minutes of play, but his hot head led to an early goodbye.

The second half started off much better than many anticipated after the Hawks extended their lead to eight points just before the end of the second quarter. Through four minutes of play Cleveland had cut the lead to two points, providing life for a team that has been dead in the second set of 24 minutes as of late.

It wasn’t until after an Atlanta timeout that the team went on a 16-4 run due to the continuing terrific play of Harris. After going down by as much as 15 points in the fourth quarter, Cleveland still continued to battle. Speights’ terrific offensive night (11-of-15 from the field, team-high 23 points) kept the motor running, while rugged play from Wine and Gold members such as Omri Casspi also kept alive a glimmering hope of something Cleveland hasn’t experienced since March 12. However, the clock was against a team that looked like they wanted to win more than anything.

If Cleveland doesn’t win within the next six games, they would have gone a whole month (!) without a W. Only nine games remain on the schedule, and the next matchup will come against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Mar 29, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Shaun Livingston (14) dunks over Philadelphia 76ers center Spencer Hawes (00) during the game at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric P. Mull-USA TODAY Sports

When Kyrie Irving returned to the starting lineup last night, things started to look positive for the Cleveland Cavaliers (22-50). But after their second-half debacle in New Orleans Sunday night, reality set in, and the Cavs continued their eight-game losing streak. The second-half destructions have been a problem all season, which has people pointing the finger at Byron Scott. The Wine and Gold will be suiting up to take on the Atlanta Hawks (41-33) in an attempt to fix their problems, but possibly without Irving.

Opponent’s Blog: Soaring Down South

Venue: Philips Arena – Atlanta, GA

Tipoff: Monday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Betting line: Hawks by -10.5

Where you can watch: Fox Sports Ohio

Where you can listen: WTAM (1100 AM), WFUN (970 AM)

Irving looked great in his first game back after missing the last eight matches; the Cavs went 1-7 in Irving’s absence. Dion Waiters remains out of the lineup and his season status remains uncertain.

The Cavs travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks, who are fighting for a playoff spot, and are currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs and Hawks have faced off three times this season and the Cavs are 2-1 against them. The last time they played was in Cleveland and the Cavs won 99-83 with help from Irving, who had 33 points. That was the Hawks’ fifth-straight loss at the time.

The Hawks appear to be a lock as a playoff team this season, but their future remains uncertain. Atlanta’s leading scorer, Josh Smith, will be a free agent in the offseason, and the Hawks had a chance to trade him before the trade deadline in February, but the Cavs old buddy Danny Ferry refused all trade offers.

Tristan Thompson will have his hands full trying to defend the versatile Smith. His ability to score in the paint as well as shoot the three makes him a tough cover. I expect the Cavs to throw different defenders out on him.

Irving is averaging 30 points per game on 61 percent shooting in his last three matchups versus Atlanta.  Unfortunately, Irving is out for tonight and Shaun Livingston will be inserted back into the starting lineup.

Jan 9, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (2) moves between Atlanta Hawks center Zaza Pachulia (center) and point guard Jeff Teague (0) in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

On a day where the Cleveland Cavaliers found out Anderson Varejao would be out 6-8 weeks due to a spilt in his quadriceps, the Cavaliers put forth one of their most impressive performance of the season in a 99-83 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Led by a 33-point performance from point guard Kyrie Irving, the Wine and Gold largely dominated the fifth place Hawks from start to finish. Irving led the Cavaliers with 33 points, while also shooting 73.3 percent from the field. In fact, every starter except Dion Waiters finished in double figures. Josh Smith led the Hawks with 17 points.

The first quarter was the one competitive quarter in the entire game. The Hawks came out pushing the pace, and got out to an early five-point lead. The Cavaliers, however, were able to battle back as the teams traded baskets seemingly every possession. In the quarter, Alonzo Gee stepped up for the absent C.J. Miles, and hit four three pointers in the period. Irving scored 11 of his 33 points in the quarter, including a leaning three pointer to put Cleveland up 29-28 at the end of one. For the quarter, the Cavaliers shot 70 percent from three, as well as 47.8 percent from the field.

The second quarter saw a backcourt of Shaun Livingston and Jeremy Pargo take over for Waiters and Irving. With Omri Casspi also in the game for Gee, the Cavaliers offense looked completely dysfunctional early on. The Hawks were no better, as they were not able to score a bucket until right before the three-minute mark. Livingston’s play was what kept the Cavaliers offense afloat, as he scored four points in the period. Both teams struggled to get anything going in the period, but theCavaliers were able to put together a few runs and increase the lead to 49-40 at the half.

The third frame was when Cleveland was really able to extend the lead wide open behind a superb quarter from Irving. Relying on good defense and quality shot selection, Cleveland grabbed total control and was able to increase the lead to 14 by the end of the quarter. This quarter was also impressive considering the Cavs were able to buck their recent trend of collapsing in the second half, and repelled the majority of Atlanta’s offensive attacks. At the end of the quarter, Irving had scored 18 points in the third alone – including a deep three with only 1.5 seconds left. In fact, at the end of the three, Irving’s shooting percentage sat at an other-worldly 80 percent.

The fourth quarter started off ugly, as Tyler Zeller bricked two close shots in one possession, and it looked as though the Hawks still had a chance to make a game-changing run. However, that early trend was bucked, and when Irving reentered the game with a little under six minutes to go, the Cavaliers still had a 12-point lead. From there, the Cavaliers were in total cruise control, and used backups to close out the game. On their last bucket, Livingston threw an alley-oop to a cutting Pargo, capping off a sweet victory over one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.

Before the game, this was a tough day for the Cavaliers. Not only was Varejao ruled out, but C.J. Miles and Daniel Gibson were also unavailable for action. Miles was ruled out with a back injury, while Gibson was cleared, but decided against playing due to not being comfortable playing five-on-five.

In the game, there was really not much to look at with a negative viewpoint. Both Thompson and Zeller had double-doubles, Irving played his best game of the season and the bench looks reinvigorated with the addition of Livingston. The one negative part of tonight’s game was the performance of Waiters, who started in place of Miles. Scoring nine points in 29 minutes of action, the Syracuse product was the one starter not to score in double figures. He shot 4-of-11 from the field, often forcing jumpers when he should have worked for a better shot.

All and all, this was an impressive performance for the Wine and Gold. They beat the fifth best team in Eastern Conference by 16 points without their second best player, their best shooter and one of their best role players. Behind budding superstar Irving, this was a game that showed the Cavaliers have talent on the roster, and are on the right path. There is just some fine tuning that needs to be done.

The Cavaliers next play the Denver Nuggets on Friday as the start of a five game West Coast road trip that will take them to Denver, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland and  Salt Lake City.Tip-off is at 9 p.m. from the Pepsi Center in Denver.