Recap: Cavs 116, Hawks 124 (Or, Give Me a Break)

This weekend finds the NBA All-Star Game’s return to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, bringing the world’s attention to the finest of Cities and providing ample attention for the Cavalier’s two all-star reserve selections and likely rookie of the year Evan Mobley, who joins the all-stars for the skills challenge and Issac Okoro for the Rising Stars Challenge.

Yet you, dear reader, probably already know all of that. What I can tell you, from my perch high above the banks of the Olentangy River and rigged with all manner of late-modern communications devices, is that the skies over Cleveland are awash with the wavelengths of radio signals both short and long, strange bleeps emerging from the ether, and indecipherable half-transmissions defeated by competing antennae. There are a lot of private jets and on a clear night, as this night was clear, you can even hear the clandestine Canadian submarines scanning the floor of Lake Erie, hunting for every possible advantage with which to spoil the next great American walleye season. 

Into the sonic fray I cast my own dots and dashes, transmitting the following simple message encrypted with perhaps the simplest and oldest cipher:

UXP BMM-TUBST GPS DMFWFMBOE!

If you can solve it, let me know in the comments, and earn a humble prize. Now, lets read about basketball. 

1st Quarter

The Cavs have of late displayed some of the ragged tiredness that has become a staple of the American subject of late, but managed to put in effort on the offensive end to match the onslaught of Atlanta’s lethal combination of perimeter shooting, Trae Young playing excellent basketball, and Trae Young playing “psychological basketball” against the refs, the opposing team, and the hapless observer alike. Young was able to switch on to (or at times, surprisingly, just dribble up to) Wade with ease and found the bucket often, with Garland attempting to keep pace against equally lackluster point of attack and help defense from Atlanta’s squad.

Okoro, playing in his home city, showed some recent growth in his game by keeping his head up on a baseline drive our of the corner to complete a plus pocket pass to Mobley in the dunker spot before hustling for a 50/50 ball on the next possession, setting him up for another penetration in transition and assist to Garland for an open 3. Kevin Love (21 points, 7 rebounds in 26 minutes) got hot in early, going four of 5 from deep for a quick 12 points. The Cavs finished the quarter up two, 36-34.

2nd Quarter

The Cavs continued to not play defense, or at least enough defense, throughout the rest of the half; One wonders if they were practicing for the All-Star game. Love refused to close out on shooters while also providing plus perimeter offense, a frustrating dichotomy that likely broke even. Caris LeVert continued to try fit into his new squad and followed Love’s lead on the defensive end while also struggling against the Hawks’ consistently mediocre interior defense, posting only a meager two rebounds in his first half box score.

The Hawks deployed a defensive scheme familiar to recent watchers of Cavs games, collapsing hard on Mobley in the restricted area, especially during his stints at center. Mobley was able to pass out or power through a few such possessions but generally looked exhausted, and the Cavs let the Hawks out-hustle them on the offensive boards. The Cavs were able to put a few runs together as the lead changed as often as the whistles blew. Halftime found the Cleveland team down 61-66.

3rd Quarter

The third quarter proved far more exciting and included the dramatic climax of the game as Atlanta Forward Danilo Gallinari lived up to his name (Gallinari derives from the Latin gallinarius, meaning ‘poultry farmer’) and attempted to sever the head of Evan Mobley with a chicken-head-removing stye attack. Evan luckily survived his encounter with the burly rustic with only a shiner and and an “I survived a flagrant-1” tee. Evan will get to look extra tough for All-Star weekend.

Mobley (22 points, seven rebounds, four steals, -17 net rating) put up 11 points as Atlanta’s defensive attention focused on Garland (30 points, eight assists, four turnovers). Caris Levert contributed seven efficient points but continued to struggle on the defense end as the two teams continued to swap leads. Love, Osman, and Rondo struggled on offense while contributing enough on defense to “hold” the opposing club to 28 points.  The Cavaliers cut an 8 point deficit to 4 to close the quarter down 90-94.

4th Quarter

The ultimate quarter of play saw improved effort and execution from the young Cavs, who kept the game within two ossessions down the stretch. Osman and Love hit timely treys to keep the two teams in relative stalemate during the first several possessions of the quarter before Rondo called an on-court huddle following a rare, doomed challenge call from J.B. Bickerstaff. Plans for the after-party finalized, the young team emerged with “one final push” energy and a new lineup, as J.B., perhaps sensing the competition of the soon-to-be-coach, yanked Rondo and put out a lineup of Garland, Okoro, LeVert, Mobley, and Allen for the stretch run.

The plan nearly worked a few times as the squad committed genuine effort toward securing a win heading into their extended break. Execution and officiating sunk our heros, though, as a 27-12 free throw disparity caused by Trae Young launching himself into folks for 13 trips to the line (and Okoro fouling out after a bevy of half-court touch fouls) proved insurmountable.

The once stalwart defense of the Cavs has faltered during Lauri Markkannen’s now-11 game absence and the recent additions of Rando and LeVert. For a team dependent on defense to spur their efficient fast-break game and hot perimeter shooting, coming mostly from the bench, making up for their lack of starting shooting, we’ve recently seen what can happen when the defensive engine sputters. In the end, for the second game in a row, a superstar proved to much for the weary Cavaliers as the crawl into the All-Star break and, hopefully, their beds. Hawks win, 115-124.