Live Thread: Cavs @ Hawks
2022-02-15Good evening CtB!
Tonight, the Cavs are down south in the Peach State to take on the Atlanta Hawks in a quietly important Eastern Conference tilt. The Hawks are looking to end their two game losing streak and maintain their position as the last play-in team in the East. The Cavs are looking to bounce back from their schooling at the hands of Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers to stay in the hunt for the top seed in the East. This is also the Cavs’ final game before the All-Star break, so they will be looking to end the first half of the season on a high note.
The Cavs will still be without Lauri Markkanen but he is apparently progressing and should be back post-ASB. The Hawks will be without young star John Collins, who is nursing a foot injury. As for the game itself, it will feature two of the best young point guards in the NBA, Trae Young and Darius Garland. But the similarity between the teams ends there. The Hawks have a high flying offense, but don’t really show a particular interest in imposing their will on the defensive end. The Cavs are an elite defensive team that has been quite frankly reeling on offense since the loss of Ricky Rubio. This game presents the perfect opportunity to get better offensively and get Caris LeVert integrated into the offensive game plan. The team that wins tonight will have a leg up in the season series after splitting the first two games, one a defensive struggle the Cavs won and the other a shootout the Hawks won.
Tip off is scheduled for 7:30PM ET and will be broadcasted on Bally Sports Ohio/Great Lakes, Go Cavs!!!
How many FTs did Young have last night?
13. Hawks took 27. Cavs took 12. Trae Young is basically a Marcus Smart level flopper who doesn’t suck ass at basketball, like Smart does.
I only watch these games through Youtube highlights so my analysis is limited to that and anything else I can see (Dan get Bally on Youtube TV!)…anyways usually in these highlights they show nearly every one on each team scoring a bucket…I didn’t see Okoro score a bucket via highlights the last two games. I know he’s had some ups and downs this season and was trending in right direction, but they gotta get more out of him because he was involved on other side of Hawks highlights quite a few times…again I didn’t expect Okoro to be a major… Read more »
Okoro was fine offensively. Nice passing and good shooting. Needs to get some of Rondo’s minutes.
Oh snap. I know i’m commenting too fast lol. but i was very worried Cedi’s mins would get cut with Levert in town…not because i think levert is bad but because per minute production Cedi is an x factor. He can be par for 10 mins…but during the extra 5 mins he plays he can go supernova. He played 14 mins tonight. W…T…Heck. Rondo’s mins were hot garbage. And it wasn’t hard to see that before he got to 10. Cedi should have played 10 more mins.
last comment…Dean Wade was again in the +…particularly +9 in an 8 point loss. He and Windler are likely to be Joe Harris 2.0 after this season.
my recollection is that Joe was pretty decent, and was part of a trade where someone wanted him, as opposed to being cut or traded to match money.
Dean has looked pretty decent. I don’t see many games, so maybe Windler has had some good games I missed.
I’d be finding more minutes for Lamar
AC was talking all game tonight that being at the top of the conference this far into the season is more of a mental drain than people think. You have to prepare for games more than the bottom dwellers. You have to prepare to be hunted and not expect any opponent to be caught off guard. Either the cavs are no longer hungry…or AC is exactly right (he’s been there…likely right). The team has had bad starts for several games in a row. Even this game, where they were ahead after the first was just cuz Love went off. The… Read more »
agree
its also a young team that doesnt know how to win…only Rondo/Love/Cedi have been on major contending teams….maybe Allen and Levert to a degree but everyone else was part of of 20 win teams…its a huge jump for players and coaches as well…thats why the next month will be crucial and determine if this team can take the pressure or they might struggle apart.
Jason I am fully on board…get Dragic at any cost seems prudent now
Boston beat Philly by 48?
Slippage. Think this team is weary.
A lot of the guys need the All Star break badly. They have been playing really hard all season, it’s a grind. I hope to see a fresher team when they next play.
Agree with Simmo, STEVENS should be seeing some time. He’s brings a physicality and an energy that’s contagious. With the slow starts, frankly I’d start him, though Markkanen will likely be back after the ASG break. Why not throw him at Trae Young for a couple minutes, if he’s going to draw fouls, like Nate said, he should feel them.
Furthermore, while I try to avoid knee-jerk reactions, I am getting Ben Werthian feelings about LeVert and JB’s use of him.
I think the second part of your comment is the key. JB has to put LeVert in a position to succeed. The kid can play. He’s been working hard on defense and has been driving the lane and dishing. When he’s out there with Rondo he has to make all his own offense, defenders are packing the lane because no one’s an outside threat but Love…. I’m confident he’ll find his way and more importantly the Cavs staff will point out the way.
He has absolutely been driving the lane. Dishing is not what I would call the rest of it. He missed about 6 wide open love and cedi threes this game
Am a touch confused on JB’s reticence to play Stevens recently.
Definitely deserved a shot when the Cavs refuse to play defense.
I am both impressed and annoyed at how right you have been so far. I love Cedi like I loved Delly…but white looks like a Dennis Rodman style addition for the celtics right now
White is better than Levert…but Cavs would have had to give up something real to maybe get him…
It was Cedi. Who I wouldnt have wanted to give up. But might have been more of an improvement long term than I thought
That’s assuming Cedi would have beat other offers…
given what Boston gave up, have to think Cavs could’ve matched or exceeded. Not gonna dwell on it now though LMFAOOOOOO
problem would’ve been that second first round pick though. Not sure if the Cavs’ two seconds would’ve beaten it.
He didnt have to beat them in quality…just had to offer first it seems
JB echoing DanK’s statement earlier,
Lost to two great superstar performances last two games.
Except…thats not true. Dan K was saying we are getting beat by individuals. Embiids performance was and seems to be every game…otherworldly. Trae Young is doing the Harden shuffle for half his points. Lack of Stevens was why we got trashed by him tonight.
Lol sorry Chris not clowning you. I know you agree. But for JB to say the embiid performance was similar to Trae’s is criminal
Trae Young was doing rat shit but he was also 13-22 from the field with 9 assists… wasnt just living at the free throw line.
Yes. He was doing a harden impression. Imagine defending him in the 3rd quarter knowing you approach his airspace and you are gonna get called. The freedom he and harden and guys that get refball props can play with dude. Embiid does not get the same calls those two do
Embiid is just as big of a FT merchant as harden or Trae man c’mon LMFAO
Embiid gets nearly DOUBLE the FTAs that Trae does, not arguing this further LMFAO.
And he is also a big that doesn’t shoot 7-11 treys a game and bangs in the paint for much of he game. Makes logical sense he would shoot way more free throws than a perimeter oriented guard that shoots a lot of floaters on the interior.
dawg he’s the one of the worst floppers in the NBA.
And he also gets whacked. Like actually whacked.
no he doesn’t. not enough to justify that FTr
I am prone to disliking small guards that are score first way more than bigs. They both flop. One is a big who bangs. The other is a tiny Harden and therefore one of the least likeable players in the nba imo. Basically Young personifies my utter distaste of the nba’s pace and space perimeter era. Sick of it. To throw it back to a previous era, I disliked Iverson’s play style too as a 6’ shoot first scorer and his ability to get calls but he did play in an era with way more perimeter and paint contact so… Read more »
I totally feel what you mean, game is definitely too soft right now especially in contrast to the beginning of the year.
My only point is that Embiid’s literally just a 7 ft guard who flops with the best of them LMFAOOOOO
Nah I think youre homering on this one. Joel is shaq with normal officiating. Imagine allen comes down as hard on Trae’s back as he did in embiid’s the other night. You think for one second that wouldn’t be a flagrant? Allen would likely be ejected. Embiid definitely gets beneficial officiating…but not on trae or harden level.
Being efficient is easier when you can’t breathe on a guy. Defenses have to play tentative. Equals more space. I think I would be more impressed if he took a hard whack like most bigs that play in paint do multiple times a game. Young and the catering to small guards is the worst thing that happened to the game. Thanks Curry.
Feel like they missed Markanen tonight. Defense just didn’t get it done.
Big time. Right before the injury Mark was our freaking closer for like a four game stretch. Was money late from the right wing. Sucks but he will be back shortly
Was thinking the same thing watching them down the stretch. Come back ASAP big fella!!!
Gah. How do u not at least foul there if you’re Mobley?
JB’s orders
Oh you mean on the dunk. Yeah give him another season or two to learn the NBA isnt a gentleman’s sport.
Why the hell were we not fouling there? It touched 4 guys. Foul the worst shooter dude
I really cannot tolerate this Hawks team…
MOBLEY!!!!! 22/10 DOUBLE DOUBLE!
Of course the call is overturned. Fucking bullshit game NBA! Cavs are one of the lowest fouling teams in the association. Trae Young is an abomination of basketball. If it were a pick up game he’d be thrown out of the gym for his brand of shit.
I was thinking the same thing…can you imagine someone pulling his garbage in a pickup game…
These are the type of games that turn me off from watching.
yup, watching a got damn free throw exercise.
holy shit that Ref is some got damn yokel, no wonder the fix is in.
Wow Celtics up 130 to 79 vs the Sixers…
Sixers started All Star break early…
good, F Embiid, another FT rat.
Sixers and Hawks need to face each other in the playoffs…and the fanboys for both teams will bitch about the refs nonstop…
Don’t even play. Just have them do a FT shooting contests.
Refs have given the Hawks this game… 14 more made free throws, 15 attempts more.
The refs will give this Hawks team a playoff series, just watch…
Capella not set before the gather.
He’ll get the call anyway
yup
yup
Not only that but he wasn’t square to the direction okoro was moving
Well maybe these two Ls before the break will give this team some motivation to get back to work. It’s clear we have lots to do