Live Thread: Hawks @ Cavs
2015-11-21
The Atlanta Hawks face the Cavs tonight at 7:30. This game will be on FSO. The Cavs are dealing with some injury issues. Timofey Mozgov and Mo Williams are both unavailable for the the game, along with Kyrie Irving. This bumps Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup tonight.
The Hawks are also confronting some injuries. Jeff Teague looks to be a game time decision.
Jeff Teague (ankle) won’t start, but he’ll warm up and Budenholzer is hopeful he can play tonight
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) November 21, 2015
Kent Bazemore is also out this game. The Hawks starting lineup looks to be Dennis Schroeder, Kyle Korver, Thabo Sefolosha, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford.
The Hawks were the Eastern Conference darlings last year getting the number one seed for the playoffs, but their lack of a super star to match up with LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals was their undoing, as were minor injuries. They seem to be confident in the teams’ current structure though. They stood strong during the offsesason and tried to keep the team together. DeMarre Carroll was the only guy who left, and they added Tiago Splitter.
Atlanta is second in the league for assists, dishing out 26.1 per game. The Cavs currently sit at fifth in that category getting 24.2 a night.
Paul Millsap is their leading scorer getting 18.1 points a night. He’s also their leading rebounder averaging 9.2 boards a game.
Things to Watch
-Last season, DeMarre Carroll was the Hawks’ stopper. He typically covered whoever the opponents’ best player was on the wing. He was backed up by Thabo Sefolosha, although Sefolosha missed much of last season with injuries. Now, Thabo is the only wing stopper, and that’s just about all he can do on the court. He will be tasked with guarding LeBron. Paul Millsap will also spend some time on the King. If those two slow LeBron, will the King settle for jumpers, or will he move off the ball to get some easy looks? LeBron should also look to get Millsap and Sefolosha into foul trouble early, because outside of those two the Hawks have no one who can stand up to him.
-Al Horford and Paul Millsap are high functioning offensive players in the post. Kevin Love has had his troubles dealing with post behemoths this season, so it will be interesting to see how David Blatt decides to cover those two bigs. With Timofey Mozgov out of the rotation, the Cavs are going to have to lean on Andy early if TT or Love gets into foul trouble.
-The Hawks pass the ball a ton. The Cavs will need to stay focused, as Kyle Korver is going to be on the move looking for the 3-ball all night. Millsap can step out and hit some 3s too. Schroder is hitting just 33% from deep, but he’s taking nearly four of them a game. This team is hitting 9.1 3-pointers a night.
-With how much the Hawks pass, the Cavs might try and play the passing lanes more. They need to be responsible if they do this because the Hawks can make them pay. They find the open man more often than not.
-If Paul Millsap gets going, the Cavs need to place TT on him. TT shut him down during the playoffs last year. See the headline picture if you’re having trouble remembering what TT did to poor Millsap.
Prediction
The Cavs should be able to pull this game out if they remain focused. While the game against the Bucks was about being physical, this game is going to be about execution. The Cavs need to take care of the ball, and remember that the Hawks are looking to create an open shot. They don’t need to bite on every pick and roll. I’m picking the Cavs, 112-92.
I could be wrong but the East leads the West 36-32.
No. It’s been trending that way so far. Rockets in a death spiral.
Sorry to have missed this one… was traveling (ironically to Atlanta!) all day. Missed the Buckeye game also, which I’m kinda glad about. It’s weird, but having more guys out (Moz and Mo) in addition to Kyrie and Shump sort of replicates how the team had to get more out of the guys who were still there just like in the playoff run last year… This team is dangerous when it’s shorthanded. Great to see KLove have a great game too! Also good to see a much better game from the free throw line and another high 20s assist total…… Read more »
Have a good vacation EG!
Enjoy the rays!!
Enjoy the downtime, and stay away from those banana boats.
Damn it I really hate losing to Draymond Green again. I almost don’t care that OSU lost, as long as it wasn’t to Draymond Greens team. I feel like my hatred for Draymond is blinding my ability to accurately discuss him.
LMAO You’re not alone!
Maybe Houston and Lakers
That is who I have too!
Sixers play Minnesota, Boston, Houston, Memphis, then Lakers. I think they get two wins in those 5 games. I think they either beat Minny or LAL, and they also beat the imploding Rockets.
Can someone post this from Conrad
Nice! That’s a Colsian Stat!
That’s amazing considering how much Delly sucks on D!
That’s cuz he’s Steve Nash on offense.
Porzingis: 24pts, 14 rebounds, 7 blocks on 8/12 shooting, 2/3 3ptFG. Damn… this kid is ballin.
He’s playing well. He seems NBA ready and is a match up nightmare. He seems to get overrated for playing in New York though. And I’m not surprised. I say this because I hear far less about KAT, who is playing better.
Towns is definitely putting up better stats than Porzingis. But I think the hype around Porzingis is justified given the radical turnaround NYK has accomplished so far…. they reached 7 wins nearly two months faster than last year… that’s pretty amazing. And he’s definitely contributing to that turnaround.
Given that NYK has gone from lottery joke to potential playoff team I think plays into the hype, whereas MIN still working towards that playoff picture. I do think MIN has a chance to be in the mix… which would be incredible given where they were at last year.
True, but New York also has Melo who is supposed to be their franchise player. And despite the East getting better, they haven’t proven to be better than the West just yet. But I do think the East is matching up well against the East this year.
I mean, they were incredibly awful for having a “franchise player” last year. I think they’re a playoff team, but I think they’re a first round exit most likely.
While agree with what you’ve said, I don’t think it means that Porzingis has been overrated. From what I recall, there were major questions about him being able to play and him being drafted so high. If anything, he’s been underrated by media coverage I’ve seen, with exception of our dear comrade Nate HAHA!
This really comes down to what each of us views through social media, Internet, ESPN, and other outlets. I’ve seen/listened to a lot of Portzingasm over the past month. While I think he’s legit, I do think he is overly discussed because he’s in NY. Don’t get me wrong I think he will be really good. But if the situations were reversed with Minny, KAT would be dominating the discussion.
Well, perhaps I didn’t explain myself well enough in the 2nd post, but I think the coverage comes from NYK’s team success, and the surprise that is given last year’s performance. Because if the situation’s switched, Towns would be on a playoff team, thus warranting more coverage. If Towns was doing what he was doing and MIN was above .500/in the playoff picture, then I would bet that there would be more coverage about what he’s doing. It just seems like you’re just comparing the coverage of two players in a vacuum, and I’m saying that the coverage comes within… Read more »
I agree that there would be more coverage of Towns if he was playing on a .500 team or better but it would not be anywhere near the coverage for Portizingas in NY. The Knicks have been nearing Browns terrible for years, that is why they overrated players like Jeremy Lin in the past. Portzingas looks like a draft success. Simply put, major markets will always discuss players from their team more than smaller market teams, especially when we are comparing rookies 15-20 games in.
BTW I didn’t think it was a joke that the Knicks could make the playoffs in the East. I liked the offseason signings.
WOW New York just beat Rockets! Knicks look like they are for real this year
Looks like Barkley knows what he’s talking about.
The Rockets have also imploded and regressed. I wouldn’t be surprised if they missed the playoffs.
How do you go to making the Western Conference Finals to this??
The Kardasians!!!!!!!!!!
Correcto mundo!
I’d hate to be a Sixers fan right now.
@mcten: David Blatt walks through the Cavs locker room, sees the Heat-76ers score on the TV. “Wait, Philadelphia is winning?”
Think the Sixers still lose this one, but it’s all good… #winningislosing
LeBron admits he blew a gasket when he went to the bench. He didn’t want to elaborate. I think he’s pissed about the Buckeyes.
Blatt is awesome. He and Delly tackle the dark shadows of society in alley ways.
It’s odd that a team gets penalized for playing shorthanded.
Blatt would want Delly on his side in a dark alley. He would prefer that not the case for the Chinese reporter.
That was a little weird to say.
@Cavsanada: Tristan passed Larry Nance tonight to become 7th in franchise history for offensive rebounds (via @Cavs instagram) https://t.co/Z6Spbx74YU