Game Thread: Cavaliers at Hawks, 12/29/18

[jayu70]

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[High 5]

If we're going to have any "DNP-tanking" this season then tonight's a prime candidate. Collins, Baze, and Dedmon in particular looked exhausted after that grueling OT win.

[hawkmanreturns]

If we're going to have any "DNP-tanking" this season then tonight's a prime candidate. Collins, Baze, and Dedmon in particular looked exhausted after that grueling OT win.

Unfortunately, even that wouldn't matter. If the Hawks continue playing like they have over the past 6 games, there's no way they lose to the Cavs or to any of the bottom teams in the East. As a fan, I'm conflicted, but I know Schlenk isn't conflicted at all and knows what he has to do if he's dead set on getting a top 3 pick. I wouldn't get too attached to any of the vets on this team. But as a fan, I honestly can't complain about winning 5 out of the last 6 games. Watching the rooks execute in crunch time has made this season a lot more exciting than last season.

[ducler]

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[lethalweapon3]

Back to back, jack! Scheduling-wise, the Atlanta Hawks have lived a charmed existence thus far, with today’s game at State Farm Arena representing their first back-end of a back-to-back pair in over a calendar month, and it’s just their fourth such series this season. The good news (dependent upon one’s perspective) is, while they were loading up the plane for a triumphant flight back home from Minnesota, their visitors tonight, the Cleveland Cavaliers (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Ohio), were also racing here from Miami after a loss to the heat.

The Hawks lost their first back-end test back on October 30, to these same Cavs – well, sort of the same Cavs. Cleveland and don’t-call-me-interim coach Larry Drew earned a pick-me-up with a 136-114 payback win at Quicken Loans Arena, their first of the season following an 0-6 start that helped cost Tyronn Lue his jerb. Yet the rotation used back then didn’t constitute what LD and the Cavs are rolling out lately.

The starting unit on that day included George Hill, Rodney Hood, Sam Dekker, Cedi Osman and Tristan Thompson. Lotto-rookie Collin Sexton now pushes the ball at the outset of Cavs games. Hood’s starting spot was usurped in the past week by Alec Burks, who arrived in the November 29 deal that sent Kyle Korver to Utah.

Larry Nance, Jr. gets the lion’s share of the minutes once allocated to Dekker, who was dealt to Washington. The three-team deal on December 7 with the Wizards and Bucks shipped out Hill and brought the Cavs Matthew Dellavedova, whose return to town became a bit less Hawkward with Korver gone.

Having sprained a foot a few weeks ago, Thompson has yet to return to the floor. His starting spot has gone, alternately, to Ante Zizic and Channing Frye. Aside from a brief November benching, the one mainstay on the Cavs’ top line is Osman (8-for-30 3FGs last six games), who until recently (double-figure scoring in past seven games) has been a tank fan’s spirit animal.

Chattahoochee High’s Finest, Jaron Blossomgame, got a two-way deal at the outset of this month, and even he has started thrice during his first games as an NBA pro. Coach Drew plugs-and-plays Blossomgame (team-high 10 boards in his start last night) and free agent David Nwaba in the starting unit as well. Have we bothered to mention Kevin Love, yet?

Lingering injuries to Love, Hood (questionable, sore Achilles), ex-Buck John Henson, Nwaba, Thompson, and Zizic (questionable, sore knee) have a lot to do with the skeleton crews Drew rolls out, like the Sexton-Burks-Osman-Blossomgame-Frye lineup that gave Miami a decent run early in last night’s game before reality set in. With all the movement among the starter options, the Cavs are heavily dependent on the offense of their sixth-men – have we bothered to mention Jordan Clarkson, yet? – to keep them in ballgames.

Clarkson’s 17.1 PPG, without Love around, leads the team, and offers the guard (14-for-27 FGs in games vs. ATL this season) a good shot at some also-ran votes for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. His team-high 18 points led the Cavs last night, but mostly for naught as the heat pulled away during the second half for the 118-94 win.

The Korver and Hill-Dekker maneuvers are all part of Cavs GM Koby Altman’s long game. He is, at once, shedding bloated salaries, and hoarding likely low-first- and second-round picks for the next decade. With little reason at this stage to make immediate strides, with more than half the roster above age 25, and with $118 million in guaranteed salaries still baked into next season, the Cavs (8-28) are likely not done with their wheeling and dealing.

Maybe the picks will replenish a new core drafted over the next couple seasons to supplement Sexton and Nance, and a presumably healthier Love, whose new contract keeps him around for a while. Maybe they’ll be used in trade packages to move up in drafts, or to acquire a second-tier headliner. One can only hope, for Altman’s sake, that his own contract doesn’t run out under owner Dan Gilbert’s watch before he gets to do something with all those picks.

On the court, Drew would love to use his team’s relatively short flight to Atlanta, the rest gained by deploying a conservative 9-man roster yesterday in Miami, and the Hawks’ delayed arrival after going to OT in Minnesota, to the Cavs’ advantage. But the pile of injuries keeps Cleveland’s options slim tonight, too. They have generally struggled away from The Q (3-15 road record; only Luka’s Mavs have done worse this season). And they’ll have to hold out a couple days to see if Patrick McCaw will be of any help.

Today’s matchup will be the third time the league’s two most defensively inefficient players face off head-to-head. For Sexton (two steals in just 3 of his 36 games so far), his minus-3.90 Defensive Real Plus/Minus value is worsted only by Atlanta’s Trae Young (minus-4.26 DRPM). On offense, the lotto pick who performs outside of their respective coach’s gameplan, resorting to hero-ball in a futile game of one-upmanship, will be the one more likely to find their team stuck in a rut.

A stronger defensive effort from the Hawks (10-24) will be essential, one more cohesive than presented when they allowed Cleveland (building a 78-57 second-half advantage) their season-high of 136 points in a 22-point defeat back on October 30. Young sank three of his four long-range attempts and had a team-high 24 points, but his minus-29 net (one D-Reb, no steals) and the sloppy futility of Kentean Princemore made it harder for the Hawks to keep up.

The Hawks’ top DRPM’er, Dewayne Dedmon (sore knee) is likely to get some well-deserved rest after his heroics in Minneapolis last night, and early-game standout Alex Poythress joins Alex Len and Miles Plumlee as questionable for tonight. Fortunately for Atlanta, the Cavs are similarly limited in the frontcourt. But the Hawks will need John Collins (8th in NBA for O-Reb%, NBA-best 65.5 2FG%) to avoid getting reckless and into foul trouble.

Vince Carter (2 steals, team-best +9 plus-minus @ MIN) and Justin Anderson (2 blocks @ MIN) need to continue playing big and creating stops in stints to alleviate pressure on their double-doubling young star. Getting more actively involved in the passing game is elevating Collins’ offense to a new level. Since returning to 30+ minutes per game over the past month, the Hawks are 5-1 when Collins registers three or more assists in a game.

As these lottery-bound teams meet for the final time this season, the Cavaliers are hoping to claim their ninth victory in the team’s past ten visits to Atlanta, playoffs included. But it’s obvious that doing so remains a tall order, particularly since a key reason for Cleveland’s success here, and elsewhere, over the years no longer suits up for them. Speaking of which, say, have we bothered to mention J.R. Smith, yet?

Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[Spud2nique]

Deep analysis gamethread by lw3! Awesome as always. Rae performing tonight. Should be a fun and wild one. Hawks make it 6/7 tonight in a battle of Trae vs Sexton. Look out for Huerter too...I love watching our young guys get big wins and learn how to close out games like last night.

GO HAWKS!

[Spud2nique]

Let’s, some of the guys on the Cavs roster you mentioned, I’ve never heard of these players. Wow. From Lebron and Kyrie to this?

[Spud2nique]

Predictions:

Hawks 117
Cavs 103

Collins 30 points 20 rebounds (...yea..)
Trae 18 points 12 dimes
Dedmon 15 points 8 boards
Huerter 14 points 6 assists

Clarkson 24 points 6 rebounds 6 assists
Osman 18 points 8 boards
Dellavadip 2 points 6 fouls

[personanongrata]

If we're going to have any "DNP-tanking" this season then tonight's a prime candidate. Collins, Baze, and Dedmon in particular looked exhausted after that grueling OT win.

Unfortunately, even that wouldn't matter. If the Hawks continue playing like they have over the past 6 games, there's no way they lose to the Cavs or to any of the bottom teams in the East. As a fan, I'm conflicted, but I know Schlenk isn't conflicted at all and knows what he has to do if he's dead set on getting a top 3 pick. I wouldn't get too attached to any of the vets on this team. But as a fan, I honestly can't complain about winning 5 out of the last 6 games. Watching the rooks execute in crunch time has made this season a lot more exciting than last season.

There is nothing he can do to ensure a top 3 pick. You may want to review the new lottery odds. All the bottom teams have about the same odds.

[graymule]

Our drive for 8 more wins this season begins tonight!

GO HAWKS !!

[hawkmanreturns]

If we're going to have any "DNP-tanking" this season then tonight's a prime candidate. Collins, Baze, and Dedmon in particular looked exhausted after that grueling OT win.

Unfortunately, even that wouldn't matter. If the Hawks continue playing like they have over the past 6 games, there's no way they lose to the Cavs or to any of the bottom teams in the East. As a fan, I'm conflicted, but I know Schlenk isn't conflicted at all and knows what he has to do if he's dead set on getting a top 3 pick. I wouldn't get too attached to any of the vets on this team. But as a fan, I honestly can't complain about winning 5 out of the last 6 games. Watching the rooks execute in crunch time has made this season a lot more exciting than last season.

There is nothing he can do to ensure a top 3 pick. You may want to review the new lottery odds. All the bottom teams have about the same odds.

Nothing is guaranteed with the new rule changes but you can do what you can to improve your chances.

[DirtybirdGA]

Pierce dropping some old school hip hop knowledge pregame with the Bristol hotel and Albee square Mall, two non singles. Impressed... lol

[DirtybirdGA]

Young got the hook about 4 minutes in.

[hawkmanreturns]

Young got the hook about 4 minutes in.

Good coaching by Pierce.

[hawkmanreturns]

John Collins is prime Shawn Kemp.

[mcleitsy]

John Collins is prime Shawn Kemp.

That dunk was **** insane.

[lethalweapon3]

WOW, RIP Bumper Tormohlen!

~lw3

[hawkmanreturns]

How can anyone watch Trae and NOT think he will be special?

[lethalweapon3]

Off-ball, the Cavs' offensive players seem to be getting into the Mannequin Challenge early.

~lw3

[mcleitsy]

How can anyone watch Trae and NOT think he will be special?

Box score nerds that don't actually watch him play.