Recap: Cavs 109, Hawks 97 (Or, The Wing Clippers)

The Hawks came into Cleveland and received some disheartening news. The King and his men planned on clipping their wings. The Hawks tried to resist, but after two quarters of action, the Cavs led by 15 points and had them tethered by the leg, struggling to get back into the air. The Wine and Gold led by as many as 26 points in the third, caging the Hawks and successfully clipping their wings, on their way to a 12 point win (19 if the game ended when garbage time started).

All five Cavalier starters scored at least ten, except Tristan Thompson, who scored just nine but grabbed 16 boards (six offensive) and dished five assists. Kevin Love put up 25 points and 11 boards, but LeBron James, in usual fashion, put up a near triple-double. He finished the game with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver were the highest scoring Hawks with just 14 points each on a combined 8-22 shooting. The Cavs were able to tame the Hawks holding them to just 37.2% from the field for the evening.

First Quarter
The Cavs started the first quarter trying to feed Love in the post. Love managed to get ten points on 4-5 shooting hitting a three, two quick hook shots, and a smooth mid-range jumper. The Cavalier defense seemed to live with Thabo Sefolosha taking shots. He scored six. The Hawks took ten threes, all of which were pretty much open.  Thankfully, they hit just three of them. They were penetrating sufficiently to force an extra Cavalier into the paint and off of a man at the 3-line. The Cavs finished the final four minutes of action on an 8-2 run, with Anderson Varejao hitting his automatic foul line jumper and driving in for two free throws. LeBron actually scored zero in the quarter. After one the Cavs led, 27-19.

Second Quarter
The second quarter started out with Matthew Dellavedova turning into Kareem. With Dennis Schroder on him, Delly decided to host a post clinic. He backed him into the paint on the left side of the floor, LeBron style, and missed a gimme hook shot. It was fun seeing Delly treat Schroder like a rookie. Later in the quarter, Delly would get fouled for two freebies on the same exact play. J.R. got hot early on and swished two threes to put the Cavs up by 13. The Cavs held onto that lead the entire quarter.

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Midway through the action, Mike Budenholzer objected a little too much to the clipping of his beloved Hawks’ wings. He bumped into a referee at mid-court and was immediately ejected. Delly was talking to the refs after the play, and one could see a smirk clearly forming. His mustache wasn’t thick enough to hide it.

LeBron had five in the quarter, including a post move where he spun past Thabo and then waited under the hoop for a full second, as Mike Muscala flew by, before laying in the ball. RJ had eight points. The Cavs were whipping the ball around and had six assists on 11 shots. Their defense turned into a pneumatic vice grip, and the Hawks shot 38% from the floor. The Wine and Gold started switching on more off ball screens, and committed to running guys off the 3-line. The Hawks took just four threes, and the Cavs led 57-42 going into the locker room.

Third Quarter
The Cavs opened the quarter forcing Jeff Teaque into a wild shot which ricocheted off the backboard. A few possessions later, Love successfully closed out on a Paul Millsap 3-pointer. He sprinted down court as the soon the shot was up, and LeBron grabbed a rebound and pretended to be Joe Flacco. The next possession Delly grabbed a board and threw a bomb to James to put the Cavs up by 22. The Cavs would lead by as many as 26 points in the quarter.

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The Hawks scored just five points in the first six minutes of the quarter, but managed a little run when LeBron got called for a tech for heading to the bench before a legal substitution stoppage had occurred. Kyle Korver sank the technical free throw and then nailed two threes in a row after running around screens. That started an 18-5 run. The Cavs just couldn’t hit shots and turned the ball over six times in the quarter leading to nine Atlanta points. The Hawks entered the forth down by just 13. Cavs lead, 64-77.

Fourth Quarter

35 year old James Jones gets two pieces of hard candy for five minutes of play.

Sensing the Cavs were in trouble, David Blatt procured some hard candy during the break before the fourth quarter for old man James Jones. Sucking on a Werthers, James Freaking Jones, dropped two assisted three pointers in a row, before blocking Thabo Sefolosha from behind at the rim. Then the King went to work for the Cavs scoring six straight unassisted points to increase the lead to 19. He had ten points in the quarter and three assists.

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The moment of the quarter came when Paul Millsap led with his knee and blasted Kevin Love in his groin. Love crumbled to the ground and looked devastated, as a blocking foul was called against him. Fortunately, he stood up after a minute and sprinted down the court while wincing. He got his revenge by getting a back cut on Mike Muscala and a quick post hook over him. With three minutes left the Cavs led by 19 points, and the bench started rotating in. Jared Cunningham finished the game with a dunk. Cavs win, 109-97.

Gripes

1. The Cavs’ first quarter defense was a little misguided letting the Hawks shoot ten shots from 3-point land. Atlanta was 39% from deep and 38% from the field in the first. The Cavs kept forgetting to chase guys off the line.

2. In the third quarter, the Cavs got sloppy with the ball, turning it over six times. Throughout the game, the team passed the ball lazily. The Hawks often got a hand on it, but were unable to gain control of it, which helped the Cavs immensely. LeBron had three turnovers, but it seemed like a lot of his passes weren’t being thrown as hard as they should have been.

3. The Atlanta uniforms use the exact same colors as McDonalds does. I now want McDonalds, which is never a good thing.

They picked the worst shade of yellow and red possible.

Hypes

1. Kevin Love’s defense was very good this game. In the first quarter, he got called for a phantom foul on Millsap. Millsap was backing him down and Love stripped the ball cleanly. A little later in the first, Al Horford tried pulling a spin move on Love. Love held his ground and bodied him. Horford missed the shot. Millsap and Horford combined for just 24 points, hitting just seven of their 25 shots.

2. Love also found his spot in the post early and often this game.  He was sprinting down the floor after almost every rebound tonight.

Love worked hard to get into post position before Atlanta could set their defense.

4. Tristan had 16 freaking rebounds, and six of them were offensive boards (which led to eight points). He’s a non-stop hustle machine, who also happens to defend the rim quite well. The Hawks made just 18.2% of their shots at the rim when met by TT. They only made 16.7% when Love showed up to stop them.

5. The Cavs out rebounded the Hawks by 13 boards. TT and Kevin combined for 27 rebounds.

6. Defensively, the Cavs switched up their schemes all night. They were going under some screens, over on others, and even switching occasionally. They held the Hawks to 37% from the field, and that tells me that they are communicating with each other when they’re on the floor. The only way you get away with switching up your pick and roll coverage like that is by talking non-stop and letting every one around you know what you’re doing.

7. Offensively, the Cavs were whipping the ball around. They assisted on 27 of their 41 made shots. They are becoming really awesome at passing the ball from the strong side of the court to the weak side corner to get defenses scrambling. That pass starts a barrage of other passes around the perimeter until someone gets open for a 3-pointer or easy drive to the rim. Opposing defenses panic as they try to follow the ball. The Cavs seem to always have someone in the weak side corner ready to start torturing defenses.

8. Richard Jefferson was the recipient of this type of pass twice in the second quarter when he went on a six point scoring binge. Both times he was run off the 3-line. The first time he elevated from ten feet out for what seriously looked like a dunk attempt, but was just a nifty banker layup. The second time he ran under the hoop for a reverse layup. J.R. threw the pass both times.

9. Speaking of J.R. he hit four threes on his way to 15 points and five assists. He surely contributed to the Cavs shooting 48% from the field.

10. Delly had 12 points, three assists, and five secondary assists, while being a game high +26 in plus-minus. He varied his offense tonight. He not only backed down Schroder twice, he even used his hesitation dribble to get into the paint and throw a floater in over Al Horford, who was waiting for a lob. He exploded Canadian TnT with a dime and made the only three he took. The Cavs really relied on him to move the ball around the perimeter.

11. The Cavs seem to have their free throw shooting back on track. They hit 16 of their 19 attempts tonight.

The Cavs successfully clipped the Hawks’ wings tonight, and should be riding high as they prepare to face the Magic on Monday.