Hawks end Cavs' 11-game streak

ATLANTA - Mike Bibby had a message for all those ambivalent Hawks fans in Atlanta.

"I didn't come to watch LeBron James," Bibby said. "I came to play."

Bibby scored 24 points, Marvin Williams hit the clinching free throws, and Atlanta snapped the Cleveland Cavaliers' 11-game winning streak with a 97-92 victory Saturday night.

James had 33 points and 9 assists for the Cavs, who overcame a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to take a 70-68 lead early in the fourth on Mo Williams' layup.

The deficit was Cleveland's first in the second half since its last loss, a 96-89 defeat at Detroit on Nov. 19. The Cavs were trying for the first 12-game winning streak in franchise history, having won 11 in a row four times, the last in 1994-95.

"You can't win 'em all," James said. "We didn't expect to win every last game and go 79-3. We played hard. It was just a matter that they got more stops at the end than we did."

After eight lead changes over a six-minute span in the fourth quarter, Atlanta never trailed after Bibby made it 84-83 with a 10-footer with 4:40 remaining.

The Hawks are trying to build their fan support after making the playoffs last season for the first time in nine years. Despite taking eventual NBA champion Boston to a deciding seventh game in the first round of the postseason, Atlanta seemingly has yet to convince many fickle fans that the Hawks are as much worth the price of admission as seeing a superstar such as James.