Live Thread: Cavs @ Hawks, Game 3 (#ChuckTheChuckersChuck?)

[Make sure you check out David’s awesome Wood Shop piece on five man lineups!]

After the Cavaliers rained down historic long-range fire on the heads of the hapless Hawks in Game 2, I was looking forward to Charles Barkley’s post-game eulogy of Atlanta rife with fishing metaphors and veiled shots at their collective manhood. Instead, Chuck went in a bit of a different direction, calling out the Hawks for not “taking someone out” once it was clear the Cavs were just record-hunting in the final quarter by chucking up 11 more threes.

While the wine & gold bench may have been guilty of overzealously trying to set the all-time mark for three pointers in a game, was it really all that disrespectful to a Hawks team that had given up the bulk of the record (22 before the Cavs’ starters all checked out with about four minutes to go in the third) well before garbage time? And, even if it was offensive to them on some level, would it actually warrant causing intentional harm to a Cav to send a message? Clearly, Chuck thought so (Shaq tried to mitigate his comment by asking “you mean touch them up, right?” but Chuck stuck to his guns).

So, thanks in part to Barkley’s soundbite, the conversation immediately following the game seemed to focus less on what the Cavs had achieved historically in their beatdown of Atlanta, and more on whether or not the Hawks would decide to man up and get some physical retribution for this apparent slight. Reporters asked about it. Media talking heads dissected it. Even one old Chuck adversary called him out over it…

Charles Barkley ,you better stop talking s*** about Cleveland you was never tough you hide behind TNT

— Charles Oakley (@CharlesOakley34) May 5, 2016

And of course, the obligatory Chuck response…

https://streamable.com/ulfr?t=38.4

There’s certainly no love lost between the two Charleses, who in addition to sharing a first name, also shared a position, the number 34 and some memorable physical moments on the floor against each other. This one happened in a pre-season game…

So, why spend so much time on this Chuck-foolery? Mainly because there’s not a lot else to talk about or watch for in the (as Ernie Johnson hilariously put it) “if necessary” Game 3. The truth is, unless the Hawks actually decide to get physical and start intentionally trying to hurt the Cavs, they have very little else at their disposal to stop Cleveland’s continued rampage. Sure, the Cavs might (probably will) cool off a bit from their blistering 56% shooting from downtown, and the Hawks may even alter their focus to take the open shots away. However, it would likely be at the expense of packing the paint, which would leave them vulnerable to Cleveland’s ability to attack the rack with abandon.

For his part, Ty Lue doesn’t believe what his guys did was wrong, and he certainly hopes the officials will prevent any sort of impending Chuck-pocalypse…

“I don’t think there’s any place in our game to take someone out if they’re playing well,” Lue said during a conference call with reporters on Thursday. “I think you can take it upon yourself to play harder and do things to stop it or stop a team from playing well. But when it gets into trying to hurt guys or trying to take guys out, that’s just not right. Hopefully the referees will keep an eye on it and make sure it’s a clean game. We don’t mind if it’s a physical game, but clean and everything that they do and we do is basketball related. I don’t believe in taking guys out and trying to hurt guys because a team or a player is playing well.”

LeBron took a more circumspect view on “Chuck being Chuck…”

LeBron James responds to Charles Barkley's comments after the @Cavs dropped 25 3's on the @ATLHawks in Game 2https://t.co/dLw2coZ6Sp

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 6, 2016

Will Atlanta find their inner tough guy… or at least the fake tough guy routine that Al Horford employed in last year’s playoff series when he tried to take out Delly with an atomic elbow? Or will they choose to focus their efforts on trying to at least make the Cavs adjust their game plan and work a bit harder for their points on the road? If they already believe that it’s “Mission: Impossible” like Paul Millsap indicated, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some frustration boil over into aggression.

A likely target could be J.R. Smith who has not only dazzled with his insane array of contested pipe bomb threes, but has also locked down Kyle Korver (allowing only eight shot attempts in the two games with only three makes). As history has shown, J.R. can be susceptible to rankling and retaliation, so the Hawks may try to get under his skin and provoke him to do something stupid.

Odds are that the Cavs will be able to handle whatever the Hawks throw at them, although this should shape up to be the most challenging game of the series to capture. Prediction: The Hawks don’t go down without a fight, and keep this one close to the bitter end. Cavs prevail 102-99.

Catch all the action on ESPN starting at 7 pm (EST)/4 pm (PST), and start Chucking your comments below…