Photo via Yahoo Sports

Hawks beat Cavaliers 114-111, winning home game that forced Dream to play WNBA Finals Game 6 in early afternoon

The Atlanta Hawks secured their first home victory of the season with a 114-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night. Onyeka Okongwu led the way with 29 points and 12 rebounds, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 25 points and Aaron Wiggins contributed 20 points from the bench.

The win improved Atlanta's record to 2-3, while Cleveland fell to 3-2.

The game took place at State Farm Arena, which had hosted the Atlanta Dream's 80-69 WNBA Finals Game 6 win earlier that day at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Cleveland initially led 28-16 after the first quarter behind James Harden's nine points and Sam Merrill's eight, but Atlanta surged back to lead 46-44 at halftime. Despite a late push by Donovan Mitchell, who scored 22 points, and Harden, who finished with 24, the Hawks held on.

Sam Merrill ended the night with 16 points.

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