Official Game Thread: Cavaliers at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

Full Contact Tag Team Twister gets ROUGH!

 

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

The Cleveland Cavaliers, already in town and watching Atlanta cut down the Nets in Brooklyn last night, have a nice, wet blanket they’d like to remove from their shoulders and drape around the Hawks tonight (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Ohio).

Hear second-year Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff tell it: “Things are easy when things are good.” Cleveland was rockin’ and rollin’ after surprising everyone, including themselves, with a 3-0 start to the season. The winning streak culminated with a 118-94 win over the Embiid-less 76ers, coming home one night after blowing out their division rivals in Detroit.

Andre Drummond’s was impactful on defense, and the dual dynamo of 6-foot-1 guards, Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, seemed to be working great as an offensive tandem. Things were easy.

A home loss two nights later, where the Knicks held Cleveland to 86 points, brought the Cavs back down to Earth. On New Year’s Eve, a 119-99 loss at Indiana rooted them in the Earth a little bit, too. “Things become a little more different when things are hard,” Coach J.B. told the Plain Dealer. “And our response to that is important… the grit we need to play with all the time… the confidence we need to play with all the time, believing in what we’re doing, and believing in ourselves through the good times and the bad times.”

How the Cavaliers (3-2) come out tonight with a rest advantage on the host Hawks will help determine whether the good times for them are not quite over. Forward Kevin Love is already sidelined with a calf strain. Three of the Cavs’ developmental players – McEachern High’s Isaac Okoro (foot sprain + Health ‘n Safety), Dylan Windler (fractured hand), and Kevin Porter, Jr. (personal reasons) – haven’t made the trip. With professional crash dummy Matthew Dellavedova on the shelf, too, Cleveland is left to compete with a thin second-string and a pair of two-way rookies.

The 6-foot-5 Dante Exum has shifted to small forward, effectively producing a three-guard starting lineup alongside Larry Nance, Jr. and Drummond. The Cavs have been at their best forcing live-ball turnovers and scoring in transition (NBA-high 11.2 team SPG, 24.4 PPG off TOs), sparked by Nance (2.6 SPG) and Drummond (2.4 SPG to go with 18.0 PPG and 14.8 RPG). But at Indiana, their struggles in stripping the Pacers and making free throws worked to their demise.

Atlanta (4-1) won’t have to be at their letter-best in their first back-to-back of the season. But if they can be as crafty with the ball as they were last night (nine team TOs, 24 assists vs. BRK) in the 114-96 victory, and keep defensive hands in front of Garland (51.7 3FG%), Cedi Osman (37.0 3FG%) and Sexton (60.0 3FG%) at the three-point line, the chances of a letdown will be low. Brandon Goodwin (impinged ankle) is available to backup Trae Young once again, but Lloyd Pierce can also turn to a rested Rajon Rondo to help disrupt and offset Cleveland’s backcourt production.

The Hawks are up to 2-0 in matchups with fellow Bubble Snub teams, and this week’s home slate with Cleveland, New York and Charlotte, followed by a visit to the Hornets’ nest next Saturday, offers a great opportunity to build momentum. But like the Cavs with Philly, all those teams already have their signature wins, too. The Knicks beat Milwaukee by 20, while the Hornets edged the Nets then followed up with a blowout of the Lumpy Lukas in Dallas.

A reasonably clean sweep of these clubs will assure Hawks fans that last night’s promising win was, as John Collins insists, “not a joke”. Which team gets the next laugh tonight?

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[hawkman]

Glad to see Goodwin available with Rondo out. He looked pretty good with the second unit against the Nets. We're going to need him against the Cav's guard tandem. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Capela vs Drummond.

Collins vs Nance

Cavs deployed a 3 guard lineup of Sexton, Garland and Exum last game.

My guess is Reddish and Hunter matches up vs Sexton and Garland. Trae on Exum.

This should be a game for Bruno to matchup vs McGee off the bench.

[hawkman]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Capela vs Drummond.

Collins vs Nance

Cavs deployed a 3 guard lineup of Sexton, Garland and Exum last game.

My guess is Reddish and Hunter matches up vs Sexton and Garland. Trae on Exum.

This should be a game for Bruno to matchup vs McGee off the bench.

I'd like to see Trae accept the challenge of guarding Sexton since they have a history. It's not like Sexton's a particularly big guard. I think he can hang with him. That may be just wishful thinking on my part though. He'd probably get cooked. 

[bleachkit]

16 minutes ago, hawkman said:

I'd like to see Trae accept the challenge of guarding Sexton since they have a history. It's not like Sexton's a particularly big guard. I think he can hang with him. That may be just wishful thinking on my part though. He'd probably get cooked. 

Let's do what increases our chances of winning, and for us that usually means decreasing Trae's exposure on the defensive end, or at least helping him out on mismatches and/or difficult assignments.

[lethalweapon3]

Few of the NBA's young players' development arcs were more harmed by the league's disruption than KPJ (2019's 30th pick, traded on draft night w/ Tony Snell from MIL to DET for the great Jon Leuer), who was beginning to have breakout performances when the season concluded, including 18 points in a blowout win here right before the All-Star Break.

Porter's plethora of post-season personal peccadilloes was a big reason why Cleveland took this other guy at #5 in November.

https://cavaliersnation.com/2021/01/02/report-cavs-concerned-with-kevin-porter-jr-s-maturity-dont-want-him-to-return-until-hes-emotionally-ready/

 

~lw3

[kg01]

42 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Porter, Jr "personal" or "parole"?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The Hawks should win this game in the 4th quarter, but don't be surprised if this game is a lot closer than what people think.

Garland and Sexton are much improved this season.  Drummond is Drummond. He's going to gobble up rebounds and draw fouls.  If he does, LP can't hesitate to put Bruno in there to give some of those fouls.  LP needs to protect John Collins tonight.

The mismatch is going to be whomever Garland is guarding.  He won't be able to handle Reddish or Bogi.

Let's see if the Cavs stick with their 3-guard lineup.

[bleachkit]

7 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Few of the NBA's young players' development arcs were more harmed by the league's disruption than KPJ (2019's 30th pick, traded on draft night w/ Tony Snell from MIL to DET for the great Jon Leuer), who was beginning to have breakout performances when the season concluded, including 18 points in a blowout win here right before the All-Star Break.

Porter's plethora of post-season personal peccadilloes was a big reason why Cleveland took this other guy at #5 in November.

https://cavaliersnation.com/2021/01/02/report-cavs-concerned-with-kevin-porter-jr-s-maturity-dont-want-him-to-return-until-hes-emotionally-ready/

 

~lw3

OO might have a similar role for us that Okoro has for Cleveland, even though they play different positions. 

[hawkman]

Hunter is STRONG.

[Dnice]

Wednesday  night rerun...lol

[JeffS17]

Nice save by Reddish, dude is so athletic, then of course dre calm and collected knocks down the open 3

[Final_quest]

Feels a little like a track meet.  Would love to see Drummond pick up two fouls early.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Final_quest

[hawkman]

Capela's a beast.

[Carmine]

Capela!

[mcleitsy]

Hunter has looked good since pre-season. This dude could end up being our 2nd best player if he isn’t already. 

[hawkman]

Bruno has to finish that.