Recap: Hawks 114, Cavs 100 (or, The Tortoise Beat the Hare)
2017-04-08
After finally flipping the Cavoltron playoff-mode switch against the Celtics on Tuesday, the Cavs flipped the switch back to lackadaisical no defense whatsoever chill-mode. The Cavs played the game as though they were were the hare and the undermanned Hawks were the tortoise in the Aesop fable. Through the first three quarters it worked. The Hawks would build a lead, then the Cavs would race back to tie the game, then take another effort breather. Then Tim Hardaway Jr. happened in the fourth, and it was too late.
With the Hawks resting Paul Millsap, Dwight Howard, Dennis Schroder, Kent Basemore, and Thabo Sefolosha, a zoo crew led by a pair of juniors outplayed the Cavs on their own floor. Former Cavalier Mike Dunleavy Jr. went for 20 points in the first three quarters, including going 4 for 5 from downtown. The Parma pirogie of the game honors, would go to Hardaway Jr. as he scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, including a rubber rim triple that completely deflated LeBron James as it bobbled in.
LeBron led the team on the offensive end with 27 points on 12 of 15 shooting from the field, along with eight boards and 7 assists. On the dark side of his box score, he had a game-high five turnovers, and posted a -15 plus/minus. After the game he chalked up the loss to a lack of energy.
Tristan Thompson started a games missed streak as he sat out his second consecutive game with a partically torn ligament in his right thumb. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue didn’t have an update of how long Thompson could miss, but Brian Windhurst stated earlier in the day that Thompson could play through the injury if needed.
The undermanned Hawks started NBA castoffs Jose Calderon, Ersan Ilasova, and Kris Humphries along with Hardaway Jr. and Taurean Prince.
First Quarter
The games first points came from a triple by Humphries that rubber rimmed its way in. On the other end, LeBron slowly drove to his right off of a Love screen, and hit Channing Frye for a triple from the right arc. Frye was the player of the quarter posting nine points, and even drew a charge off of Prince drive.
Neither team was sharp in the first half of the quarter as they traded chuck it up threes. The Q crowd responded to the lack of action in kind, and was largely silent.
The @KevinLove lob to @KingJames looks even better in Free-D 😍#CavsHawks || #DefendTheLand https://t.co/DXEHMR6E2X
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 8, 2017
Then the crowd came to life with four minutes to go in the quarter as Kevin Love threw his 16th touchdown pass to LeBron this season for a two-handed jam. Just for poos and hahas I looked up how many Browns quarterbacks have had 16 or more touchdowns in the 18 seasons since their return in 1999. Are you ready for it? Three. Even on a night where the Cavs put up one of their most disheartening efforts of the season, they are fine.
Kyrie scored the Cavs last points of the quarter with a pump fake fadeaway that drew DeAndre’ Bembry off his feet. The Hawks went on a 5-0 run to close the quarter and held a 21-19 lead.
Second Quarter
Mike Dunleavy and four guys from the Y sliced up the Cavs defense in the first half.
— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) April 8, 2017
Dunleavy continued the Hawks run to open the second quarter with a triple from the baseline over a too slow to recover Kyle Korver. On the other end, Deron Williams ran the pick and with LeBron to perfection for a high handoff that bobbled in. The Cavs didn’t get back on D and Ryan Kelly pump faked Richard Jefferson away, then LeBron watched the Kelly up a bank shot without attempting to defend it. The Hawks kept soaring and built a 30-21 lead which finally prompted Lue to call a time out to regroup.
The Cavs still trailed the Hawks by ten at the midway point of the quarter, and then showed off their heavy artillery in a comeback so quick you would have missed it with a bathroom break. Korver drilled a triple from the left arc after Humphries momentum carried him off the ball. On the other end, Kevin Love drew a charge from Taurine Taurean Prince which led to LeBron muscling a pair off the back board over Prince. Kyrie then feed Love in the paint for a right-handed baby hook over Humpfries which cut the Hawks lead to three.
After a Hawks timeout, Korver drew a foul off of Ilyasova from behind the line, and converted all three. The Cavs took their first lead since late in the first off of a triple from Love in the corner. The teams went on to trade the lead over the remaining three minutes of the quarter with the Hawks holding a 52-50 lead at the half.
Third Quarter
LeBron tied the game after going coast to coast on the Cavs first possession, then took the lead with another pair with a left-handed driving layup. After a Hawks timeout, the Cavs scored again, this time as LeBron hit a cutting Kyrie Irving for another layup off the glass. Defense then led to offense as a Channing Frye rejection of Humphries led to a pick and roll between Love and Irving for another pair. On the following Cavs possession, Irving and Love ran a pick and pop, with Love converting on a deep ball from the left wing. The Cavs run was capped off with Kyrie drawing defenders to the right baseline then feeding LeBron for a Kracken-esque feed to LeBron for a tomahawk jam to extend the Cavs led to 67-58. They were engaged on both ends of the floor for the first, and only time all night.
Calderon nailed a triple and it was promptly followed by a Humphries cherry pick jam for another pair. A LeBron turnover, then lead to a breakaway reverse jam by Hardaway Jr. and the Hawks were back into it.
The teams traded blows over the final four minutes of the quarter, with Atlanta landing more body shots, and they held a 83-78 lead after three.
Fourth Quarter
RICHARD.#CavsHawks @FOXSportsOH https://t.co/aHZpNsrYpA
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 8, 2017
Deron Williams beat Malcolm Delaney off the dribble for a left-handed layup for the first points of the final frame. Thirty seconds later, LeBron found Richard Jefferson on a backdoor cut for alley oop. A moment later, LeBron slithered through the lane for a running bank layup to cut it to a one point game.
After an Atlanta timeout, Ilyasova was picked off by Jefferson, and it led to LeBron passing to Korver three-feet behind the right wing arc. Korver looked to pass at initially, then sized the cushion he was given by Humphries, he launched the deep triple and converted giving the Cavs their first, and only lead of the quarter.
The remainder of the game was a flashback to Dion Waiters’ one-on-one battle against Tim Hardaway Jr. from the Rising Stars game in 2014, except that Waiters is in Miami, and none of the Cavs were up for a duel. With eight minutes remaining it was still a two point game.
Over the next five minutes, the Atlanta tortoises caught the Cavs sleeping under a tree and booked to the finish line outscoring the Cavs 21-2. Kevin Love hit a three with three minutes left, but it was too little too late. With two minutes remaining in the game, Lue pulled the starters and the Hawks held on to win 114-100.
Yay
📊 @WestfieldIns #HiddenStat 📊@KevinLove posted his 39th double-double this season, the 368th in his career.#CavsHawks pic.twitter.com/zEZ5JuPM6c
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 8, 2017
Kevin Love is healthy and active heading into the playoffs. He struggled from the field, but he did pull down a game high 15 rebounds.
Channing Frye made the most of his start and put up 16 points, five boards, two blocks, and the only positive plus/minus (8) of any of the starters.
Derrick Williams was active in his only minute of action with 6 points in garbage time. He runs the floor and hustles like he’s playing for his NBA future, which he is. How about some more time for him Ty?
The Cavs still control their own destiny as far as playoff seeding is concerned. Their magic number remains two with three games to go. The Celtics are suddenly struggling and travel to Charlotte for a show down with the feisty Hornets tonight.
Boo
Kevin Love struggled from the field going 6 for 17. He’s been able to manufacture points at the charity stripe this season when his long ball is off, but he didn’t attempt a free throw.
The Cavs went 9 for 36 from downtown, and Hawks parlayed the long misfires into fast break points via cherry picking throughout the game. I get that the Cavs are a live by the three, die by the three kind of team, but bully them in a paint a bit with Howard out of the lineup.
The Hawks won the assist battle 39 to 23. They won the rebounding contest 42-38. They won game because they wanted it more.
That was the most pissed I've ever heard Austin Carr, @MrCavalier34. Cavs embarrassed in their fourth quarter.
— HoopsDogg (@oldseaminer) April 8, 2017
They made Austin Carr about as angry as we’ve ever seen him in the post game. Carr’s flustered rant finished with him saying that “The Cavs better become men between now and Sunday.” He’s 69-years-old guys. Don’t get him so worked up.
The same two teams will meet again Sunday in a 3;30 matinee. Until then.
I hope Kyrie’s knee injury is not that bad. To be honest they should sit him until the playoffs begin.
Hardaway JR is a big time player, I can see he takes competition seriously, I’d draft him next year in fantasy basketball.
shump is GONE this offseason. He doesn’t want to be here anymore…clearly hates his role off the bench…and refuses to accept the fact that he shouldn’t dribble. Guys are foregoing passing to him when he’s wide open now if they can help it…and you can see his shoulders slouch after those plays. He’s gonna become a cancer if we don’t get rid of him…and we will unfortunately be selling low because he hasn’t shown well and other teams will know we are getting rid of him because of his attitude. On a popovich team he’d have been waived just to… Read more »
Remember when we could have traded him for Beverley? (j/k/….Rockets were never going to do that in a billion years)
I was all about a Shump for Rubio deal. Not that it was probably ever a possibility.
Would have done that in a hot second, but yeah, doubt it was ever anything likely.
The team seems to have gambled that they could get Shump back on track rather than giving Liggins a year of experience. Now it may be too late, although I would still switch to Liggins ASAP — his heart is in it, and he doesn’t do as much dumb stuff.
Could be he is already a cancer, I’d bet on it. There has to be something going on in the locker room, their effort has been abysmal. I see why guys would take offense that LBJ doesn’t always practice what he preaches, however he puts up big numbers every single night and has been to 6 straight finals. If he chooses to treat the regular season a certain way, that is earned, but guys like Shump should bust their butts every possession.
Yep. Preach brother.
Now, with the playoffs just a week away, I think you shut it down and get much needed rest, ceding the number one seed (unwitting pun alert!).
Rest more important than playoff position now. Losing top seed might even serve as motivation at some point.
My main beef is that KLove took 10 threes in this game, when it should have been a good opportunity to go to work in the post. Some credit should go to the Hawks for playing loose and making their shots.
Korver still not looking that healthy to me, which is too bad.
Ah well, my guess is that the resting begins now. There really isn’t much difference between the one or two seed.
Yikes. McMenamin’s post game coverage has me concerned. Everyone is super pissed and Kyrie’s knee is flaring up. Not good. Everything is far from awesome.
Yep saw that too. Why I posted what I did. Dishearteningly, the cavs own coach, players, and staff seem to be very concerned by this funk now.
Yes I am disgusted at our bench’s lack of focus and effort of Deron, Shump, and even RJ. But I’m even more po’d with seething anger at Ty Lue for not making the needed adjustments in the game. There is NO Way any playoff contender NBA coach would have rode with the clunker vets to the bitter end like this. It’s unfair to this team and even more so to Lebron. It makes no sense to leave athletic and talented NBA players like Derrik Williams on the side lines. Did Ty Lue forget that he too is a willing slasher… Read more »
I think he fails to see what is glaringly obvious to us fans. Effort and athleticism trumps experience and nonchalance. If the old fellows have lost their hunger, put in guys who are still hungry. Liggins and Derick Williams should be playing much more if Deron and Shump don’t care enough to put in the effort. Jefferson is hit and miss, play him sporadically and pull him if he’s having an off night.
No one played well last night that’s for sure, except for LeBron in spurts, but Deron Williams and Shump headed the garbage heap in the game. Shumpert showed total disinterest and even Lue finally saw he was horrific benching him after six forgetful minutes. I almost wish we hadn’t gotten Williams. His very bad games far outnumber the positive impact, and the Cavs become so slow when he is on the court. Lastly, Lue’s coaching has been schizophrenic and his words contradictory. He had been saying health was more important than seeding, and then he says he will play all… Read more »
You get into a modus operandi and it is difficult to get out of it. Many of us have been there during college or graduate school. It is tough to snap out of it. NBA players are no different. They are humans, like the rest of us. Therefore, there is literally no logical or rational reason to think that they should be able to snap out of a funk in their profession any more than any of us can snap out of a funk in our profession on a whim, assuming we all love what we do. I do, and… Read more »
As Jekyll and Hyde as their last 48 hours have been, it’s who they are. They’ve galvanized the past two seasons in the playoffs. I expect the same this year.
He’s alive!
Like I said after they smoked the Celtics. Regular season mission accomplished, stay healthy and be ready for the playoffs, they proved they have other gears.
I don’t think it’s a valid comparison with the prior two years. The Cavs are playing much poorer overall, particularly of course on defense, going into these playoffs. And too many players have either regressed or are not giving what the Cavs thought they would provide. As AC said heatedly several times last night, no championship team plays like the Cavs last night, and I believe it’s worse than Jeklyll and Hyde. Only due to #23 do we have a chance as this team has too many question marks one week before the playoffs.