Live Thread: Hawks @ Cavaliers (Game 2)

The preview headline on NBA.com reads:

The Hawks have lots to clean up. Will they find answers for the dangerous Cavs?

My initial reaction to this was: that’s the appropriate adjective given what the Cavs have shown this season!  They are a ‘dangerous’ team, in the way J.R. Smith is a ‘dangerous’ opponent or setting off fireworks is dangerous.  You’re dealing with stuff that is generally manageable but has the potential to be explosive.  J.R. Smith has a usage below 20 and never gets to the foul line.  Disciplined opponents can manage him.  He’s also capable of hitting impossible shots at the most inopportune times.  In the same way, the Cavs have athletic limitations that make blocks, steals, and free throw attempts hard to come by, and were barely above league average defensively in the regular season.  Disciplined opponents can manage them.  They also boast some of the most top-heavy talent in the league and have the shooting bonafides to break NBA playoff 3-point records.

Let’s review the finale to game 1.  The Cavs go into offensive stagnation, enduring a 7 minute stretch where none of their big 3 tally any points.  They’re unable to muscle their way to the basket, and the defense begins succumbing to the Hawk’s transition attack.  Then they get burned repeatedly by going under screens, a decision management conceded was due to the fact that “you gotta give up something against them.”  ‘Them’ being Atlanta, who ranked 18th in ORtg in the reg season.  The Hawks take the lead just as LeBron James loses all confidence in his jumper and the rest of the team has trouble muscling through defenders to create space.  When it looks like the Hawks have the Cavs on the ropes, this happens:

https://vine.co/v/ixiaIBDvzbQ

That drawn out “wooOOOOoow” from Chris Webber pretty much sums it up.  You’ll notice that Kevin Love’s screen whiffed and Kyle Korver was able to keep pace with The One Through Whom Liquids Flow.  Korver’s contest even forces J.R. to add a good 10 degrees of arc to his scorched earth tank.  The Hawks only sin here, is that Kent Bazemore (the guy who was encouraged enough to be clapping at the end of the game) lacked an appropriate fear of his ‘dangerous’ opponent.  J.R. is one of a handful of players to possess both the confidence and ability to take ‘n bake that make.  It was all over after this.  LeBron snapped out of 8-minute funk and Dennis the Umlaut-ified was more than anti-clutch enough to be buried by the Cavs top-heavy talent.

The Cavs have decided (and reminded us at every possible opportunity) that they view Korver as ‘dangerous’ and not Schroder.  Paying Forward the gamesmanship of SVG, Coach Lue offered specifics: “No Adjustments.  Our gameplan was great.  […]  If Korver had one shot and Schroder had 20 shots, we like our chances.”  Fair enough.  The Hawks are a dangerous team in the way that gas heating is dangerous.  As long as your pipes (get it?) are solid an otherwise dangerous thing is properly contained.  Do some preparation before you install and get that inspected and you like your chances of not dying in a house fire.

So if you’re the Hawks and you wanna win four outta the next six, you gotta stay completely focused and manage the Cavs in a way that exploits all of their vulnerabilities.  If you’re the Cavs, just don’t do anything really stupid that wipes out your significant margin for error.

Let’s have some fun tonight!!!!!!!  EZK with the boots on the ground!