Live Thread: Cavs @ Hawks
2015-03-06
Fresh off of outscoring the Raptors in an old-fashioned barn-burner, the Cavs roll into the ATL looking to ground the high-flying birds and show them exactly who the EC is going to run through in the playoffs. But Atlanta has had a couple of days off to figure out the best ways to hard foul LeBron in the paint stop LeBron from scoring.
LBJ says he’s “mad as hell… and he’s not going to take it anymore!” (or at least is going to do more to protect himself from now on).
The Cavs dealt Atlanta their worst loss of the season back on Nov. 15, 127-94, but the Hawks rose up less than a month later to even the score by giving the Cavs their worst defeat, 127-98. Atlanta won the next one too (109-101 in a more competitive matchup on the King’s birthday), although neither LBJ nor Al Horford played in that one (but neither did JR Smith, Iman Shumpert or Timofey Mozgov since they weren’t on the team yet).
If the Cavs want to even the season series, they will need to do a better job tightening up their perimeter defense to prevail in what is sure to be another high-scoring affair. If they allow the Hawks to get supernova from the outside… in the words of Han Solo… “that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it?”
This feels like another playoff-style tilt to me, somewhere between the Houston and Toronto game in terms of intensity. I don’t think it will be quite as physical, but I do think there will be a fair amount of scoring… Prediction: Cavs fly high to edge the Hawks in the end… 113-111… Commentariat… Rise Up!
We got beat tonight, smiply as that. The Hawks are just the better team.
I’m not too worried about tonight’s loss. We were playing on a back-2-back away and they were not and at home. We made it close. They hit a lot of shots. LeBron turned it over a ton. We didn’t get a practice beforehand and they are a team you need to gameplan for, which will happen in the playoffs. It may sound absurd but I’m more afraid of the Pacers than the Hawks in the playoffs.
Lol I said this earlier this week about the pacers. I agree about not being worried about tonight’s loss and that we be better prepared for a series with the Hawks.
The Hawks will still be a tough out. But they’re not as much as a physical team. I kind of hope that they face off vs the Pacers in the first round so they beat each other up. Which would happen if the playoffs started today.
I like the sound of that.
Yes, hoping Pacers are 8 seed and play hawks 1 st round. Also, Cavs finish second in standings and play Charlotte who hopefully finish 7th.
Lots juggling to come in the East for 2-4, and 7-8 spots.
Um…the Hawks have beat the Pacers three times this year (3-0)…by an average margin of 15. **WITH** George in the lineup, they pushed the Pacers to seven games last year. Since last year, the Hawks have improved immensely. Really, what do you think the odds are that Hawks-Pacers in the first round goes more than four games?
I think the odds are really good that Hawks-Pacers go more than four… playoff basketball is completely different than the regular season. Only a few years ago, I believe the Bulls swept the Heat during the regular season, only to be defeated by them in the playoffs…. that’s just one example of several such instances.
Pacers are playing much better ball… and Paul George hasn’t played a game this year, unless you’re referring to George Hill.
No, I meant that Paul George DID play in the Pacers-Hawks series last year, and the Pacers barely handled the Hawks. IF–big if–he plays this year, he will be a shell of himself coming off the compound fracture, AND the Hawks are significantly better this year than last.
Can we figure out how to get Love more work around the elbow. He’s not a great 3-PT shooter this year. And we need to develop more options other than ISO plays and PnR 3 shots. I really hope this team can get some practice time in. I’m afraid that we might lose to the Pacers in the first round and then LeBron and Love will leave.
Evil, C:tb should give you more low hanging fruit like tomorrow’s game against the Suns. Break the streak!
I thought LBJ had a good post-game presser. He took ownership of the turnovers, and also acknowledged the game plan ATL threw at them tonight. He knows what’s up. If we face them in the playoffs and beat them… it will be a well earned triumph.
Nice to hear he owned his mistakes. More ball movement in the first to counter the attacking defense on our picks. And then we came out flat in the fourth. Not a huge deficit we can’t overcome to beat them in series. I feel like somebody else mentioned that was a perfect game for them and it was one our lesser games.
LBJ claimed that ATL completely changed their defensive tactics in this game as opposed to the 1st 3… they blitzed the PnR this time, and apparently they did not the last three games against each other.
Did he say anything about dribbling to much?
He always owns up to it when he falls short, which is, in unqualified terms, commendable. The two things I love about LeBron is that he owns up to his failures, and he seems to genuinely care about his people–his teammates, his community, etc.
Now, when does he tighten it up? When does he melt into the offensive system, so he’s not driving into three defenders? When does he go to the post every play until the defense is forced to adjust?
My guess is that this game will be a HUGE learning experience. He knew it in his presser… he knew their game plan was to make someone else besides Kyrie and himself beat them.
Blatt made some interesting comments… he’s not nearly as concerned about the offense as the defense. And rightly so, they did score 97pts… If the Cavs would’ve held them to 24 per quarter, that’s 96… would’ve beaten them.
It’s scary to think how the Hawks play like the Spurs, and they have arguably a more athletic roster….
Anybody that thinks the Hawks aren’t for real isn’t paying attention (Cols). They don’t have the track record of the Spurs, but their point differential is second only to Golden State.
Cavs shooters need to fake the 3 ball and drive more. Try to get a better shot or try to make the defense collapse and then try to find the open man like the Hawks did. But staying at the 3 point line all night and just forcing long balls is not going to cut it against the Hawks.
Evil, are you on the recap? Maybe you can break your losing streak tomorrow night.
Yep… I only seem to get the losses unfortunately…
Hang in there. Better days are coming.
It’s all good… one of these days I’ll recap a win… hopefully in the playoffs
Just remind CTB that you are forbidden from recapping playoff games.
Yep not worried about this loss. I feel like Cols.
I did like the energy and surge after that technical from Blatt. We out scored them pretty big from that point on until 4th came. Too much energy exerted from Toronto? Lots of big playoff type games for us since everybody plays up for the Cavs. Great come playoffs for experience.
I don’t think we will get to see too much Mozgov against the Hawks because the Hawks play a lot of small ball and Mozgov can’t go to the perimeter and play defense on Al Hartford. Hartford got to best of him tonight.
Yep that set shot of his was on tonight.
I still cannot understand why Mozgov keeps playing around 20 min. He should be around 27-31 minutes a night.
No hot hand to ride in the 4th this time. They kept making the extra pass but there was no one with confidence in his shot in the last 6 minutes. Someday maybe we’ll see Moz in the game at the end, but until then we have to trust Blatt that he knows his player. Hawks come and go, but when they come they are very good. Tough to match up when every player can score. Schroder is excellent off the bench, and Scott had a good game. Tough loss, but I think they made progress defensively as the game… Read more »
Credit goes to Atlanta. There’s a reason they are at the top of the conference. They did a nice job defending our PnR. Their guys can play.
Cavs need to move the ball and protect it. As Mozgov would say, “Team needs to be team…like Atlanta.”
HAHAHA…. nice Mozerati line U-Dog!!!! Definitely all the credit should go to ATL…. can’t wait to play them again. If the Cavs beat the Hawks in the playoffs, that will be a VERY good sign.
First game this year where I feel Blatt was thoroughly outcoached. As much as I despised Mike Brown, at least he stuck with his big men. When will Mozgov get his deserved 4th quarter burn?
I’m thinking Moz must be on some type of minutes restriction. 20 to be exact.
post players ( MOZ / T.T. 2 FOR 2 F.G ‘S —WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE )—-38/ 3 PT ATTEMPTS —WHEN THEY ARE FALLING THAT IS GREAT —WHEN NOT YOU NEED TO ADJUST / WHERE IS PERKINS —-WOULD LIKE TO START TO SEE HIM AT LEAST GET 7 MINUTES / GAME —–REALIZE IT IS ONLY 1 LOSS AND THE CAVS DID BATTLE BACK—BUT CAVS FANS BETTER BELIEVE THE HAWKS WILL BE A TOUGH OPPONENT COME PLAYOFF TIME —THEY ARE NOT GOING TO FOLD
The Hawks play the let’s pack the paint defense and that’s why Lebron is not effective against them. The Hawks make oppsing teams shoot a lot of 3’s and jump shots.
Hawks: 27 assists
Cavs ; 18 assists
Hawks play team basketball. When the going gets tough, Cavs don’t. Lebron needs to internalize this or he will continue to fall to Popovich and his understudies. He will never win the amount of rings a player as great as him deserves.
I thought that was a big stat: 18 assists, 17 turnovers. Usually 2:1 or 3:1 is the goal….. it was nearly 1:1.
That is gross and we still were close enough to win halfway in the 4th.
I agree, Hawks and Spurs play the perfect defensive scheme to stop LeBron and it makes it worse when the Cavs shooters couldn’t make their open shots.
felt houston toronto atl were similar games….cavs went 1-2 in that stretch…not gonna get any easier so team has to pull out some tough road games and win the easy games like phoenix tomorrow
True, but I feel like they played pretty well in most of them. Steady improvement is all I ask for. I thought from the get go that 2016 was our likely championship year if all goes well. This year will be gravy. Just keep improviing, get playoff experience, and keep learning to play together. They’ll ge ttherer.
think most frustrating part was beginning of game and 4th they brought little energy and hawks ran away if Cavs lose it can’t be about little energy focus and lack of ball movement has to be the other team was just much better and no matter what cavs did they couldn’t get it done…can’t say that tonite…team wasn’t jacked for this game which was odd felt they played harder against toronto
I agree they seemed more up for Toronto. But it is hard to to be up for every regular season game despite how big it is, it is still just regualar season and they will earn from this, especially coaching staff for when they meet again.
Is it somehow easier for the Hawks? Or Toronto?
If they started today, yes. But they don’t. Cavs have made steady improvement for about four straight weeks now. They’ll continue to Gel, get the 2 or 3 seed (probably 2) and then continue to improve during the playoffs. I’d be concerned if they had peaked, but they haven’t. The hawks are getting the absolute most out of their talent. Great coaching, smart players, good chemistry. But they are probably not going to get much better. Maybe it will be enough, but the Cavs aren’t done yet. And their ceiling is higher. Just a question of when they get there,… Read more »
how much more would we need to gel? is team still not comfortable after 20+ games…think by now team should be gelling but shumpert and delly can’t hit outside shots mozgov never plays in 2nd half…some bizarre lineups but everything revolves around lebron and kyrie being best on floor…tonite they clearly weren’t
They need a lot more time to gel… A lot of the Hawks have been together years… not months. And to go thru some adversity like tonight…. need to learn from these experiences, they will be better.
Think about the spurs. Those guys have played so much together they know what the other is doing before it happens. Sometimes, during a play, there is a split second to decide which way to cut. It can be the difference between an oop for a dunk or a turnover. On defense, it can be the difference between an uncontested layup and a steal. Do they know the system? Yes, Do they play well together and compliment each other’s games? Yes. do they know each other’s tendencies with their eyes closed? No. They have to go through some wars together.… Read more »
Well. A loss. It sucks. But I don’t see the Hawks able to do this in a playoff series.
Oh, they are plenty capable of doing this in the playoffs. They don’t have the best record in the NBA on accident. They are an excellent team. They can be beaten, but they are not pushovers. They are the best team in the East by far. Cavs are closing the gap, though. But look at the Hawks record vs the west. They are a great team and if the ECF started tonight they’d be favorites.
Why? Is the hoop height adjusted to 11 feet? Do the court dimensions change? Is there something that will change in the playoffs that particularly favors the Cavs version of basketball? If you missed the utter destruction of the Heat last year in the finals by the Spurs, go back and watch it. That’s what the Hawks are trying to be. Wake up. The Hawks beat Cleveland three times in four chances. They can and will continue to wreck the Cavs if they don’t play smarter and better. And saying, “But Lebron!” isn’t and argument.
I am not that down about this game. This is Atlanta’s 2nd game in 6 nights, and our 4th in 6 nights. You can tell Atlanta put together a great game plan for us AND they shot really well AND they were just bursting with energy. We played as poorly as we can, and were still right there heading into the 4th on the road.
Atlanta is legit though. Would be great to get 2nd seed so we don’t have to worry about them until ECF.
They did have a great plan…. they wanted to make anyone else but LBJ and Kyrie beat us…. and they fell for it. Moved the ball really well on offense.
AC is exactly right…. they attacked LBJ and Kyrie on the pick and roll, and brought a guy from the weakside to the middle of the floor… Ball has to move more quickly to take advantage of doubling on the pick and roll.
I agree. Just an off night shooting wise and low energy. Not ok but not the norm either. Disappointed for sure but not the end of good Cavs bball. I still think we take them in the series.
Ugh. This is pretty shockeding. I don’t know hiw they lost to this team
welcome to reality Cols714 this team no showed at beginning of game…jacked up 3s against a small ball lineup and showed little heart or energy for 3/4 of game
Let me help: this wasn’t shocking. The Hawks are very good. Just because you don’t know any of their names, that doesn’t make them not good. They have the best record in the NBA right now. Look it up. It’s true.
no one should defend Cavs or any player on that team tonite this was an excusable loss and team no showed big time especially their top players in lebron and kyrie…no name guys on hawks were scoring at will….just pathetic….and no I’m not trolling….need to look at reality…hawks would beat us in 5 in playoffs
I know you’re not trolling… I only call George out for that since that’s all he ever does.
Not a great game for the Cavs. They fought back in the middle quarters, but the first and fourth were all Hawks…
In fact… until George posts a positive comment about the Cavs, I will hit him with the “troll” tag on every one of his posts…
What you need to do is “hit’ yourself with the “troll” tag and look up the word…had your picture right under it…
^^^^^^^ Troll troll trolll…. keep trying though smh
if cavs played smart like hawks they would be unstoppable they have more talent but they run simple sets on offense and no one rebounds or boxes out….team was beat up and if that doesn’t wake them up i don’t know what will
The difference in what I do and what you do is that I point out the obvious and pull no punched…no matter who it is…you live in a parallel universe where thing are not quite what they seem to be…that’s a big difference
^^^^^^^ troll troll troll… you have yet to post ANYTHING positive so will treat you like the troll you are…
If you noticed my comments describing you were very positive…true but positive…I call it like I see it.
^^^^^ Troll … you only show up towards the end of losses and post… definition of a troll…
Stick to the Cavs…it is a Cavs blog and it’s not about you…haven’t you figured that out yet troll???
^^^^^ Troll… why don’t you stick to the Cavs George? You’re a broken record with your Blatt/Delly comments.
LeBron almost had a triple double: 18 points, 8 assists, 9 turnovers.
boy lebron better show up in playoffs he is just going through motions him and kyrie were horrible tonite and that chase down block on kyrie was pathetic….this team showed zero energy all but one quarter and just didn’t hustle like they were on 2nd night of back to back
Hard to win when you can’t score in the fourth…
AC is completely right… it’s all about the ball movement.
Maybe the 1st quarter deficit was too much to overcome….. But this game can be a good lesson for the Cavs. The Hawks scored at will against the Cavs today.
I don;t buy that when we were only down by 2 entering the 4th. We just got sloppy and couldn’t hit our shots.
I agree John but what I mean is that overcoming that lead in the 3rd quarter took a lot of the Cavs.
They can’t be overconfident if they meet the Hawks in the playoffs.
If *this* Cavs teams meets the Hawks in the playoffs, the Cavs are going to learn a hard lesson. The turnovers and stagnant offense are killing them. The game plan against the Cavs is be patient. They will eventually revert to isolation play and become easy to defend.
If *this* Cavs teams meets the Hawks in the playoffs, the Cavs are going to learn a hard lesson (and I don’t think that would be the worst thing). The turnovers and stagnant offense are killing them. The game plan against the Cavs is be patient. They will eventually revert to isolation play and become easy to defend.
Cavs just can’t get one to go… shot selection not the best…
8 turnovers for LBJ. Put the ball in KI’s hands. Please.
Kyrie’s had 5 TOs as well… Neither has taken care of the ball tonight.
they’ve both been bad tonite i don’t thnk kyrie hit a 3pointer tonite
You’re right: Kyrie 0-5 from 3.
2 LBJ turnovers in a row.
Demarre Carroll helping the Cavs by jacking up the three…
Lebron will say that the Hawks are better than us right now, and we have to learn how to play better as a team. He’ll talk about how he is the leader and has to teach the young guys it takes effort on D and selfless ball movement. He will ignore the fact that he was playing ISO and has D lapses. I’m so tired of it. He’s the best player in the world. Easily. The only thing that ever gets in his way is him. I believe in you Bron, just find a touch more humility. Just a touch.
I’m thinking this one is over. 10 point deficit with 3 minutes to go against this team is too much to overcome.
Little margin for error, but still possible.
Not with missed free throws. Ugh.
Turn overs and missed free throws are the stories of the night.
They’ve been pretty good on free throws, but 1st half turnovers were really bad… and the Hawks move the ball SO well.
25 for 31 is pretty good
More about the timing of missed not percentage. It seems when they pulled close the missed one or 2 and then Hawks go for 5 or 7 straight points.
who the eff is mike scott and why is he scoring so easily?? cavs have zero fire tonite
I truly hope Kevin Love signs somewhere else next year…he has really been a very big disappointment…\
^^^^^^^^ Keep on trollin
I almost responded, and then I saw who posted. Nice one George, almost had me.
He’s not the player we thought we were getting when the Cavs pursued him…also he is the biggest defensive liability when he is on the floor…if the truth hurts…oh well
^^^^^^^^ Troll troll trolll
And that’s it. Dumb possession. 12 is too much with this time. Hawks too good for Cavs tonight. Hope they use it to grow. We’ll see them again in the ECF.
That was all on LBJ right there… he’s not the ball handler he thinks he is… guys know how to get the ball away from him
And his handle has regressed the past couple weeks. Time for another sabbatical?
He “ballhogs” too much…he does that a lot and he dribbles way too much…he needs to learn how to give the ball up!!!!
^^^^^^ Troooooooollllllllll
KLove’s post defense has been underrated for a while, but that was beautiful on Millsap.
Great. ISO ball again
Bad, bad, bad LeBron.
Yeah. Please, Lebron, stop the hero ball. Please. Even when it works, it doesn’t help the team grow. We can win without it, and more often than not, will. Just stop.
Okay, now make a run and keep the D tight.
Milsap just throws his body into people on offense.
That was some great D by the Cavs on that possession…
Kyrie and Love did their part but LBJ has to do a better if the Cavs wan the beat the Hawks in the playoffs.
Kyrie could have waited on that pass and drawn Carroll to set LeBron up.
didn’t have energy for entire game only 3rd qtr and even then allowed 28 points….gonna be bough to scrap back but we’ll see what happens
Hawks don’t miss open shots… have to play 48 minutes of D on them…
Absolutely. I had a feeling this would be a loss or a very tough win. It’s not out of range yet. It can still be a signature win or a reminder to the young guys what it takes and to Lebron that he’s not the only guy on his team.
Even though it’s going against us the Hawks are putting on a clinic for how to frustrate the cavs. I think brand has bought a flux capacitor or something.
And they are also not missing right now.
Stupid plays,mental mistakes,bad passes and terrible coaching adds up to a loss
^^^^^^^ Troll… troll… troll…
They are making their 3s and we are not.
They move the ball better than the Cavs.
Actually, Atlanta shot very poorly by their standards tonight. Be afraid, Cleveland. Muahahahaha
I’m sorry, but this loss is on the coaching staff. Inability to match size and athleticism in key runs. I’m a huge Blatt supporter but they just didn’t do their part tonight.
Wtf is the matter with this “bush league” idiot…doesn’t he even have a clue of how to match up…I swear this is going to be the Cavs “achilles heel”…Idiot Blatt…if I said it once I’ve said it a thousand times…he has no business coaching in the NBA!!!!!!
^^^^^^^^^ Do not feed the Troll…
Well I thought the Hawks were a lit bit overrated but they are for real.
cavs are not taking any smart shots either korver is running the same curl routes time and again need to make adjustments
Need to get Shump on Korver… Kyrie is too short to stop that catch and shoot three…
no one rebounds no one moves and already down 10 again…sigh
Blatt, PLEASE recognize this is where the Hawks will try to put the game out of reach. It’s going to be Korver time until you get Delly and Jones outta there!
Kyrie and LBJ can’t play 48 minutes…
Get some big and athletic guys out there! Mozgov and Shump have played the least minutes of anyone this past week. Instead it’s Delly at SG and TT at center. What the hell.
I completely agree!!! Sick of watching delly in the game and moz on the bench
Raptors and Hawks both lost, Wizards barely hung on against Miami after leading by 28 at the half.
Raptors and BULLS both lost, that is.
Just not fair that Hawks have MIllsap, Horford and Brand who are all basically the same player…
Why does this idiot Blatt keep playing a slower player with absolutely no defensive skills(Dellavedova) instead of ANYBODY…this guy is a straight bum!!!!!
^^^^^^^ For those who are new… ignore this troll…
J&R BLOCK ON KORVER!!
Now I know why Lebron calls the Hawks the Spurs of the East. Their are making him a jumpshooter exactly the same thing the Spurs do with him.