Official Game Thread: Hawks at Cavaliers

[lethalweapon3]

Live look-in at Dan Gilbert’s new diving platform! "What's not to like?"

 

“I see what You’ve done for other people. And I want that for me!”

You’ve seen the meme. A soundbite from a televangelist’s prayer to the Upstairs gets selectively captioned for the sake of Internet humor. Like Frank’s Red Hot, we put that Dellavedova on everything!

Let somebody flaunt the latest SNKRS drop for followers on The ‘Gram, or some previously non-existent abdominals, lined up in a gym mirror, after a workout pays off. Perhaps that chrome Hummer they’re leasing for some weekend parties out on the shore. Soon enough, here comes the preacherman!

In short order, our Atlanta Hawks (1-0) have become the Thirst Trap of the NBA. It’s true, at least, for the usual suspects hanging out in the bottom tier of the Eastern Conference. Atlanta reached the NBA’s Final Four in 2016, spent roughly three-and-a-half seasons in sTankonia, and got back with a completely different cast of characters. Meanwhile, the forthcoming slate for the Hawks includes opponents that haven’t been seriously playoff-relevant in a minute.

Washington hasn’t won 50 games, in a full season or on pace, since the 1979 Finalists, also the last time they appeared in a conference finals. Anthony Davis wore a “That’s All Folks!” tee to his finale in New Orleans, who promptly stole logo-petting Zion in the Lottery. A few years of butter-fried tilapia sandwiches later, Pels fans have been left to wonder, “That’s All?” Detroit hasn’t won a playoff game since bowing out of the Conference Finals in 2008.

And then, there’s Cleveland. The Cavaliers host the Hawks (6 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Bally Sports Ohio) one evening after another thirst-trapping club, Charlotte (no playoff-series wins since 2002), paid a visit to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Mike Fratello was the head coach for Brevin Knight, Bob Sura, and Danny Ferry. A rookie named Zydrunas Ilgauskas was taller than the Empire State. And Shawn Kemp was wider than Victoria Lake. That was the last time, in 1998, that a Cavaliers team reached the Eastern Conference Playoffs without The Chosen One.

In the next strike-shortened 1998-99 season, Fratello dragged the club to the equivalent of a 36-46 season, before being forced to take his telestrating talents to television. In the ensuing ten non-Bron seasons, 33-49 in 2013-14 was the Cavs’ high watermark. All this is to say, head coach JB Bickerstaff has an awfully low bar to clear in his second full season.

Eleven summers ago, team owner Dan Gilbert sought to assure miffed Ohioans, in comic fashion, that he is capable of shepherding a championship-level NBA franchise, without the services of the former hometown hero who wore a picnic table cover to a summertime interview at the Boys and Girls Club. Dan’s sort of still working on this. Only now, bearing the ring he got thanks to The Prodigal Son briefly returning to team up with Third Eye Blind, Gilbert gets his chance at a do-over.

Nobody cry for Dan, though. While you were slumbering the summer away, Gilbert went out and septupled his net worth, as Rocket Mortgage went public. Of North America’s sports-team majority owners, Steve Ballmer is now the only one who isn’t muttering, “Dow Jones, I see what you have done for other billionaires…”

No matter the final record, whether Bickerstaff hangs on, young talents like Isaac Okoro (NBA rookie-high 32.4 minutes/game in 2020-21) and 2021 Lottery catch Evan Mobley break through, Lauri Markkanen and Jarrett Allen prove to be worth the investment, Collin Sexton adroitly handles the club’s disinvestment, or Ricky Rubio sticks around through the springtime, 2021-22 is bound to conclude in favorable, encouraging fashion. That’s because Kevin Love’s albatross of a contract, in 2022-23, will at long last become an expiring one. Watch your back, Ballmer! Gilbert’s comin’ for that numba one spot!

Even if they find their top players snubbed, like Atlanta in 2021, for their All-Star Weekend, it’s bound to be a win-win of a season in Cleveland. But it would be soooo much better for the fans if the Cavs could win-win more than 35 times and, like the Hawks, make any sort of noise in the Playoffs. Heck, even in the Play-Ins.

As he did last season with a 3-0 season start, Coach JB is going to want to find a way to snag some early Ws, because the schedule gets treacherous fast. The Cavs (0-2) follow up tonight’s SEGABABA with a ten-day, five-game excursion. They’re at Denver on Monday, then, the dreaded double-dip at STAPLES Center, then at NBA Finalist Phoenix, then a cross-country flight to LaMeloville. The schedule eases up from there until mid-November, but who knows how squirrely things can get if they suffer too many early drubbings.

The Cavs acquitted themselves fairly well in their first road test, Wednesday’s season opener in Memphis. Despite getting gashed (53-36) on the glass at both ends, Cleveland surged back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit, behind Darius Garland (career-high 12 assists, ahead of Rubio’s 10), Mobley and Sexton, to get within a point of the Grizzlies with under two minutes to spare. Relying on players like Cedi Osman, rather than Garland and Rubio, to handle the rock, and not getting back properly after they turned the ball over, made the hole Cleveland fought to climb out from deeper than necessary.

They hung with the Hornets for a half last night, but found themselves bashed on the boards again, this time at the hands of Messrs. Bridges and Plumlee. Love comes off the bench, still displaying mastery at kickouts off the defensive boards if not much else (team-high 10 D-Rebs, all in 1^st half, 4 assists vs. CHA), with Sexton (6.5 fastbreak PPG, most among NBA’ers w/ 2 games in their pockets) the most obvious beneficiary.

It’s a tall task, but the Cavs (NBA-low 36.0 team RPG so far, bottom-five in D-Reb% and D-Rating) are going to need near-7-footers Markkanen and Allen (11-for-11 FGs in his season debut @ MEM, 1^st to do so in shot-clock era, as per Elias, but just seven D-Rebs through two games) to mix it up more on the defensive end, both to preserve Love and alleviate lanky rookie Mobley.

An NBA team could lose exactly one game to every NBA opponent, in a full season, and still come away with 53 wins. A solid regular-season finish for the 1-0 Hawks (1-2 versus 22-50 Cleveland in 2020-21, 0-2 against the 19-46 Cavs the season before) entails winning not just games, but series, especially versus teams like the forthcoming half-baked quartet of adversaries on the docket.

The WingStop duo (h/t @ATLHawks3) of Cam Reddish (team-high 20 points in the 113-87 win vs. DAL) and De’Andre Hunter (+19 vs. DAL, behind only Trae Young’s +21; one of 4 Hawks w/ 2 blocks) should be capable of doubling up the defensive production Cleveland relies upon from Okoro, and also tripling the sophomore’s offensive value. That would facilitate Young, John Collins and Clint Capela targeting and exploiting matchups that smell an awful lot like barbeque chicken from American Deli.

Hawk players have long been gracious and gentlemanly in their obligatory pregame pleasantries. Beginning this season, from teams like the Cavs that were just getting used to Atlanta as their playoff-starved peers, individual Hawks are going to hear an awful lot of, “Thanks! I’m just trying to get on your level!”

 

Go Bravos! And Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

The Dot Com is now updating Injury Report PDFs throughout the day, about every half-hour, which I'm not sure is a great thing but whatevs. As of 10:30 AM, Gallo (sore shoulder) is questionable.

https://official.nba.com/nba-injury-report-2021-22-season/

~lw3

[hawkman]

Classic trap game. It'll be interesting to see how the Hawks come out after running the Mavs out of the arena. In theory, this game should be over by the 3rd quarter. 

[ATLHawks3]

Cleveland is an interesting team to matchup against with their twin towers at PF and C in Mobley and Allen.

[NBASupes]

They beat us in the preseason playing their full real rotation and almost got beat by our 3rd string.

[bird_dirt]

Capella's gonna feast.

[High5]

I hope they try the 3 7-footers thing again. I feel like that would be bad for them on both ends against our lineup.

[Peoriabird]

Hawks blow these guys out!!

[Gray Mule]

Don't get the big head and go to Cleveland and blow this game.  Hawks are going to need all the victories that they can muster this season.  We're favored.  Doesn't guarantee a win.

If our starters can stay with their starters, our 2nd team should feast.

GO ATL HAWKS !!

[Peoriabird]

7 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Don't get the big head and go to Cleveland and blow this game.  Hawks are going to need all the victories that they can muster this season.  We're favored.  Doesn't guarantee a win.

If our starters can stay with their starters, our 2nd team should feast.

GO ATL HAWKS !!

Sounds like you have a lot of doubt about this team Grey...constantly sounding the be cautious about this team alarm. What gives?

[Gray Mule]

28 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Sounds like you have a lot of doubt about this team Gray...constantly sounding the be cautious about this team alarm. What gives?

Tis better to be safe than sorry.  If you don't climb too high you don't have as far to fall.

I'm not worried about the Hawks being good.  They are.  I just don't want them to go into one of their famous sleepwalk games and forget to play.  It's happened so often before.  We all remember.

Nothing good in this life comes easy.  Things taken for granted oft times fail.  I just want the Hawks to be alert and ready for whatever is thrown at them by whoever is going against Atlanta.

GO ATL HAWKS !!

[marco102]

Gallo out. 

Clint on minutes restriction.

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by marco102

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[Peoriabird]

45 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Tis better to be safe than sorry.  If you don't climb too high you don't have as far to fall.

I'm not worried about the Hawks being good.  They are.  I just don't want them to go into one of their famous sleepwalk games and forget to play.  It's happened so often before.  We all remember.

Nothing good in this life comes easy.  Things taken for granted oft times fail.  I just want the Hawks to be alert and ready for whatever is thrown at them by whoever is going against Atlanta.

GO ATL HAWKS !!

So your thinking is if you are cautious optimistic, the team would in turn be cautious when approaching games against team who are obviously inferior opponents.  I didn't know that you were superstitious like that.

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, Peoriabird said:

So your thinking is if you are cautious optimistic, the team would in turn be cautious when approaching games against team who are obviously inferior opponents.  I didn't know that you were superstitious like that.

The above statement assumes that you don't think Cleveland is as good as the Hawks.

[JayBirdHawk]

We should beat the Cavs like a drum,  if we don't I'd be dissapointed.

The big question for me...Will JC posterior Allen, again?

[marco102]

Keep this man in Atl forever!

 

[marco102]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

We should beat the Cavs like a drum,  if we don't I'd be dissapointed.

The big question for me...Will JC posterior Allen, again?

I won't be disappointed with any win. I just want them to win.  Rather it be by 30 or by 1. Just win and keep this momentum going. 

[Dnice]

30 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

We should beat the Cavs like a drum,  if we don't I'd be dissapointed.

The big question for me...Will JC posterior Allen, again?

Jarrett tried to do one himself, but it was a high percentage throw in...lol

[marco102]

I hate the BallySports App. I literally have to put my tv up to 100  to get the normal sound I get on 20.