Official Game Thread: Cavaliers at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

Somebody’s got to lead the Hawks in steals these days!

 

I get really dangerous this time of year. Yes, there’s an Atlanta Hawks game tonight, with the upstart Cleveland Cavaliers paying us a visit at The Farm (7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Ohio). But there are so many local sports options vying for my attention, and I zone out very easily when things start going south.

The defending Eastern Conference champions are back! That’s right, everyone, Rugby ATL has already kicked off their Major League Rugby schedule, having had to move to Silverbacks Park in DeKalb County after their field at Life University was damaged by flooding near the end of last summer. Even with an ownership and coaching upheaval, the RATLers are scoring in bushels are look to be a contender once more in the early going.

The Sidney Crosby of box lacrosse is in town! With all due respect to Josef Martinez, Lyle Thompson may be the most accomplished champion athlete playing in this town right now. He’s leading the National Lacrosse League in goals and points for the team that got the ATL’s Titletown feel rolling, the 2017 NLL champion Georgia Swarm.

Come for the lacrosse league’s greatest scorer at Gwinnett’s Gas South Arena; stay for the Poulin Wall plugging up the opponent’s goal! Also in Duluth, the Atlanta Gladiators are neck-and-neck for the East Coast Hockey League’s Southern Division crown. You all know how much I adore divisional banners. Shoot, somebody's got to love 'em.

What’s worse? I’ll keep flipping the channels and get fixated on a random SEC men’s hoops game. I’ve gone from wanting to dump the Hawks’ first rounder at Deadline time to wondering aloud whether Kennedy Chandler or Tari Eason or TyTy Washington could best address the Hawks’ defensive woes, and how many rings could be counted inside an oak tree before Nate McMillan elects to play them.

Bah, lemme check and see if The Italian Mare is hooping today. Georgia Tech’s women’s hoops is Top 20 heading into March Madness, and 6-foot-4 forward Lorela Cubaj just might be good enough to fall into the newfangled Atlanta Dream’s lap come April at Draft time.

So, yeah, the Hawks (26-30) can hold me down for a quarter or two. But a defensive collapse tonight like the floundering that occurred  mid-game over the weekend in Boston, and Johnny Davis’ Badgers visiting Coach Woody’s Hoosiers starts to look mighty appealing.

It’s all a bit disrespectful to the Cavs (35-22), who have done things the right way seemingly all season long. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad handed a gloating Hawks team their first L of the season back in October, and the subsequent injury losses of Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio and extended mid-season absences for Lauri Markkanen (out, sprained ankle) and Isaac Okoro haven’t caused the Cavaliers to skip a beat. Now it’s the Hawks looking up in the standings, and Cleveland, newly fortified with ex-Pacer swingman Caris LeVert, eager to see who they might soon shock in first-round playoff action.

The loss of Sexton, in particular, seemed to alleviate the log jam around Darius Garland (20.1 PPG, 8.0 APG), the leading scorer and  third-year dime-dropper who gets to play as a host in this weekend’s All-Star Game. At the upper rung of the NBA’s Rookie Ladder, Evan Mobley (1.7 BPG, 0.8 SPG) has made Bickerstaff’s commitment to Tall Ball work with his defensive tenacity, helping Cleveland keep foes off the free throw line while allowing a league-low 102.1 PPG. Kevin Love has been the glue guy, helping as a rebounder, an extra passer and a release valve on the perimeter to allow the younger stars to excel on the inside.

I am often in the business of putting sketchy GMs on the hot seat with these gamethreads, but I must give Koby Altman his flowers while he's here. Nothing said, coming off a 22-50 season, that Altman was worth keeping around, or that he should stick with his hiring of the Bickerstaffs for much longer.

There were no worries, internally, about chemistry or fit when the Cavs sent Taurean Prince and a second-rounder to Minnesota for Rubio, or when the team acquired Markkanen via trade with Chicago, mere days after extending Allen and drafting Mobley. While the Bulls’ Billy Donovan may have a leg up in the race for Coach of the Year, right now, it’s Altman for Executive of the Year by a nose.

When last we left the Cavs in Cleveland, the hosts were down several key guards due to injury and illness, while Kevin Pangos and former Hawk Brandon Goodwin were at the mercy of Trae Young (35 points, 11 assists, 1 of ATL’s 2 player TOs on the evening).

In an inversion of Sunday’s recent action in Boston, Atlanta piled up a 40-22 advantage in the third quarter to turn the tables and negate otherwise monstrous outings from Kevin Love (35 points, 7-for-14 3FGs, 11 boards and 4 assists off the bench) and fellow bigs Evan Mobley and newest All-Star Jarrett Allen (combined 17-for-23 FGs, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks).

Love’s teammates were 1-for-11 from outside, and Trae’s teammate Clint Capela still managed 23 rebounds (11 offensive) on the inside, helping Atlanta’s skeleton crew escape New Year’s Eve with the 121-118 road win. While the Hawks have continued drowning around in a morass of their own making, a loss today for the Cavs (15-6 since Jan. 1) would be their first consecutive loss since that Dec. 31 defeat to Atlanta.

The Hawks have to establish defensive cohesion that doesn’t get out of whack when a player exits due to foul trouble, or when the starters return to keep up momentum gained by the bench, or vice versa. Without cohesion and an understanding of defensive assignments, McMillan’s lineups have a hard time staying calm, clear, or connected.

Pitchers and catchers might not be reporting down in Florida for quite awhile. But for the Hawks to keep my rapt attention, some guards, forwards, centers and coaches need to stay clocked in for 96 minutes over the next couple days. The clicker finger on the remote gets very itchy nowadays, and it’s not going to get much better unless the Hawks do. You can’t get here soon enough, Thiago Almada!

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Bogi (sore ankle) and Delon (tense groin, like many of us after Valentine's Day) are upgraded to available on the latest Boo-Boo Report.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Almost forgot! If you catch sight of Loverboy up there running around South Georgia with the flowers, call 9-1-1!

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/ga-police-searching-bouquet-bandit-sought-stealing-flowers-valentines-day/JIA2JXDNRVGLXMXCYF3ZODSNCQ/

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

It's perfectly fine if you wanna get down a little during the halftime show, Collin.

Dean Wade be like, "Hey, Chris! I'm not chopped liver!"

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

20 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Pitchers and catchers might not be reporting down in Florida for quite awhile.

We da champs for a minute. I wore all my Braves gear today! 
 

Awesome thread @lethalweapon3 you are all over EVERY SPORTING EVENT. 

GO HAWKS!

I got the Cavs by a ’s dozen but Vegas has Hawks -1

This isn’t a must win but it’s a must give it your all.

[terrell]

Nate is gonna stick to the same lineups no matter what... Oh well.. ..I hope our offense is on fire because Trae Huerter Gallo on the floor together, Cleveland might score in bunches...Good luck Hawks!!

Edited February 16, 2022 by terrell

[terrell]

Trae has it going early..Save some for the 2nd half.....lol

Edited February 16, 2022 by terrell

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Trae off to a great start I see.  Too bad the defense is still bad.

[terrell]

Yeah We might have the worst group of wings in the NBA. Every wing we have is extremely flawed and limited. Including Hunter.

Hunter can't let Okoro blow by him like that. He has no idea that Okoro is not a shooter. Embarrassing. These guys don't do their homework... smh

Edited February 16, 2022 by terrell

[terrell]

PLAY SOME DEFENSE

[benhillboy]

Dre with the rare on-ball deflection.  We need so many more.

[JayBirdHawk]

so many WIDE open missed 3s, smh

[JayBirdHawk]

good 1st play from the zone...then messed it up the 2nd time, lol.

[terrell]

Anybody gonna guard Love?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

so many WIDE open missed 3s, smh

Yeah . . I'm getting hyper sensitive about that now.  Especially when the other team can make their wide open 3s.

[JayBirdHawk]

2 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Yeah . . I'm getting hyper sensitive about that now.  Especially when the other team can make their wide open 3s.

Exactly!!! smh

2 minutes ago, terrell said:

Anybody gonna guard Love?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bogi looks so comfortable coming off the bench since he came back from injury.

[JayBirdHawk]

Just now, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Bogi looks so comfortable coming off the bench since he came back from injury.

at least Nate is running the all bench lineup - leaving Gallo in with the unit.

[terrell]

Bogi has been on lately...