Cavaliers 123, Hawks 98

Your shot, Warriors.

Dropping jumpers from every corner and angle, Cleveland drained an NBA record 25 3-pointers — the most in any regular season or playoff game — during a runaway win over Atlanta on Wednesday night in Game 2 of their second-round series.

J.R. Smith made seven 3s as the Cavs, looking like an Eastern Conference version of Golden State's Splash Brothers, had the most prolific outside shooting game of any team in league history.

From the outset, they were on target and on a tear, and afterward LeBron James struggled to explain it.

"Tonight was a special night for all of us who played," he said. "This league has seen so many great teams, so many great players and great shooters and for us to set an all-time record is truly special."

James made four 3s and scored 27 points for the defending conference champions, who were able to rest their starters for the entire fourth quarter. Their arms were tired.

Cleveland finished 25 of 45 behind the arc and had 10 players make at least one 3.

Even the team's furry mascot, Moondog, got in on the act by making an over-the-head, backward fling from half court on his first try in the final minutes.

"When they put those shots down, I don't know if anyone can beat them, to be honest," said Atlanta's Kyle Korver, one of the game's deadliest shooters. "We were hoping that they'd start missing at some point."

The Cavs never did.

They made 18 3-pointers in the first half and added seven more after halftime to embarrass the Hawks, who have lost 10 straight postseason games to Cleveland.

The Cavs spent the final few minutes chasing history and when reserve Dahntay Jones dropped the Cavs' 24th 3 with 2:24 left, it bettered the mark of 23 previously held by Orlando (2009) and Houston (2013). Mo Williams added another 3 for good measure.

The Warriors, who beat the Cavs in last year's Finals and seem to be on a collision course with them again, recently set the postseason mark by making 21 3-pointers. Stephen Curry and Co. have a new bar to aim at.

Smith made six 3-pointers in the first half — the Cavs knocked down seven straight during one dizzying stretch — as Cleveland built a 38-point lead over the stunned Hawks, who will head home for Friday's Game 3 down 2-0 in the series and utterly demoralized.

There was little Atlanta defenders could do against the Cavs, who stood behind the line, took aim and dropped shot after shot after shot.

After making Cleveland's 16th 3-pointer in the first half, the easygoing Smith skipped back on defense like a little kid on a schoolyard playground as Cleveland's towel-waving fans danced with delight and smelled blood.

"When he's making shots, it's contagious," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.

By halftime, the Hawks were down 74-38 and finished. The team posted on its official Twitter account, "If you take away their 3s, we're right in this."

Cleveland went past Golden State's record when Kyrie Irving nailed a 3-pointer with 5:06 left in the third quarter. But that wasn't even enough to satisfy the ravenous sellout crowd, which was still chanting "Let's Go Cavs!" with Cleveland leading by 40 points.

Paul Millsap scored 16 points and Jeff Teague added 14 for the Hawks, who need to regroup quickly or the Cavs will sweep them for the second straight year.

Here's the kind of night it was for Atlanta: Millsap knocked down a long 3-pointer to end the first quarter, but replays showed it came after the horn and was disallowed.

Not that it would have mattered much.

"That was overwhelming," Hawks guard Kent Bazemore said. "I thought they shot (really well) in Game 1, but that was amazing."

Bosh's season is over 

Chris Bosh's season is now officially over, regardless of how far the Miami Heat advance in the postseason.

The Heat and Bosh made the announcement Wednesday afternoon after the team practiced in Toronto, ending the recent speculation that Bosh would try to return to the court during the playoffs.

Bosh has not played since the All-Star break after a blood clot was discovered in his left leg. It's the second consecutive year that Bosh's season ended at the break because of problems with clotting, and the joint statement came one day after the National Basketball Players Association urged Bosh and the team to resolve any issues they have about his immediate future.

"The Miami Heat and Chris Bosh announce that Chris will not be playing in the remainder of the 2016 NBA Playoffs," read the statement. "The Heat, Chris, the doctors and medical team have been working together throughout this process and will continue to do so to return Chris to playing basketball as soon as possible."

Bosh is expected to remain with the team throughout the remainder of the playoffs — helping his teammates however he can. And while the statement finally provides resolution on his short-term status, it remains unknown if he has dealt with any other clots or if he remains on blood thinners.

"This has been going on since February," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said in Toronto on Wednesday, before the announcement. "All we know is that he's taking care of himself, health-wise, and that's all we care about."

Miami leads Toronto 1-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 2 set for Thursday.

Bosh was averaging a team-best 19.1 points at the break, when the clot was found after he arrived in Toronto — the city where he spent his first seven NBA seasons — for the All-Star weekend. He went through the All-Star media day rigors on Friday of that weekend knowing he couldn't play in the game, and the reason initially cited was a calf strain.

Days later, it became known that it was much worse — though not as severe as in 2015, when a clot on one of his lungs caused so much pain and other problems that Bosh needed to be hospitalized. And when the team began its post-All-Star schedule this season in Atlanta, coach Erik Spoelstra said players addressed what they would miss about Bosh not being available to play.

"We talked about what we are going to miss the most about CB and it wasn't end of possession, throw it to him and he can get you a shot or defensive rotations," Spoelstra said Wednesday. "It was his leadership and his voice. Now he's around the team, he still provides that, and it's a powerful thing."

Bosh has blogged several times in recent weeks (topics including pairing beer with barbecue, sneaker collecting and Kobe Bryant), thrown out a few Snapchats including last week one of him shooting jumpers, even tweeted that Heat teammates like Wade and Goran Dragic are his heroes after recent wins.

But he hasn't mentioned his health, and there's many unanswered questions.

Has the highest-paid Heat player, someone with three years and about $77 million left on his deal, had more clots than he's revealed? Have others formed since the one was found in February? Does he have any now? Did he attempt to play through them this season? Is he still on blood thinners? Have any doctors told him that he should not continue playing basketball?

If the Heat know, they're not saying. And in this case, their silence may speak volumes.

It's not a privacy violation for a team to reveal that a player sprained an ankle or twisted a knee. But per the collective bargaining agreement, when it comes to "potentially life- or career-threatening" matters, a team cannot say anything without consent of the player or his family.

On the Heat injury report, the reason for Bosh's absence is blank. If he had a common injury, it would be listed.

"We know we're missing a huge part of our team," Wade said.

Bosh still has impact, clearly.

The Heat wasted a 10-point lead late in Game 1, then went to overtime when Toronto's Kyle Lowry made a halfcourt shot at the end of regulation. Bosh's words to the Heat going into overtime, his teammates said, helped them get back on track and win the game.

"It makes you come out and just do a little bit more, because you've got somebody who would kill to be out there, who would do anything just to be on the floor," Wade said. "I take that into every game with me, for sure."