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You can call them “butter” ‘cause they’re on a roll! Having won 11 of 14, the Cavs hit the road for their third game of the year against the Atlanta Hawks. The Cavs won the first two matchups in Cleveland by scores of 128-105 and 127-119. That second game was played without Mobley and Garland. The Cavs used the same starting lineup for that Dec. 16 game that they will use tonight. The Cavs won that game thanks to 18 offensive rebounds as they took 16 more shots than the Hawks.
Atlanta is 18-23 overall and 8-11 at home. Last night they beat the Heat in Miami without Trae Young, so they will be playing the second night of a back-to-back, although with a short flight, while the Cavs have had two days off.
The Hawks started the season 4-2 but have since gone 14-21. Starting forward De’Andre Hunter, averaging 14.9 points on 46% overall and 40% on 3’s, is out. Trae Young missed last night’s game with an illness and is questionable for tonight.
The Hawks have about as unbalanced a team as you will see, being all offense and no defense. They rank 4th in scoring offense and 28th in scoring defense. Offensively they are only 19th in effective field goal percentage but are 4th in scoring because they are 3rd in offensive rebound percentage and 2nd in second chance points. All those offensive boards plus a fast pace puts them 1st in shots per game. The key to beating them is getting defensive boards and limiting putbacks.
In the last game the Hawks had just 6 offensive rebounds while the Cavs had 18. That’s how you beat them. In the 14 games since Garland and Mobley went down the Cavs lead the league in defensive rebound percentage, so they match up well against this team.
The Hawks like to go one-on-one, ranking 24th in assist percentage. They’re slightly below average in both 3-point and 2-point percentage. They rank 10th in 3-point rate so they shoot from deep a lot and then crash the offensive glass. They’re above average in free throws per possession, thanks mostly to Tre Young throwing himself into defenders and the refs giving him the call.
Defensively they’re awful, ranking 29th in effective field goal percentage, fast break points per game, and 2-point percentage. They’re 25th in defensive rebound percentage so you can get a lot of second chance points against them. They’re 28th in opponents’ points in the paint and 24th in opponents’ 3-point percentage. Because they crash the offensive glass so much they are frequently out of position to defend the fast break when they fail to get the offensive rebound, leading to their 29th ranking in fast break points allowed.
The Cavs should be able to score inside, outside, and on fast breaks against this team. The first two games they scored 127 and 128 points. In the last game Okoro and Wade had 18 and 16 points as all five starters scored in double figures. This time they’re on the road, but with two days off they should be fine. Jarrett Allen had 25 points and 14 boards in the last game between these teams, going 12-for-14 from the field. Including both games he’s 17-for-20 against the Hawks.
The Cavs are coming off a game where they scored 33 fast break points against Milwaukee, their highest total in over six years. The Hawks rank 29th in fast break points allowed so we could see another track meet for the Cavs.
The Cavs also scored 74 points in the paint against Milwaukee; their highest of the season. The Hawks are 28th in points allowed in the paint so we could see tons of dunks and layups. However, they held Miami to 108 points last night.
Trae Young is their star, of course, averaging 27 points and 11 assists. The Cavs shut him down the first game but he bounced back with 35 points and 10 assists in the last game. SG Dejounte Murray averages 21 ppg on 47%. PF Jalen Johnson averages 14.8 ppg on 57% from the field and 40% on 3’s. He missed the first two games. The Hawks are 14-13 when he plays and 4-10 when he’s out.
SF Saddiq Bey at 13 points and C Clint Capela at 11 points and 10 rebounds round out the starting lineup. SG Bogdan Bogdanovic averages 17 points off the bench and C Onyeka Okongwu averages 9.5 points on 59% from the floor. Nobody else averages more than 3 points per game as the Hawks rely almost exclusively on eight players for their scoring. With Hunter out and probably Young as well they're missing 41 points and could be hard pressed for points tonight, especially if they can't get a lot of offensive boards.
The Hawks had only one win since Dec. 1 against a team over .500 until their upset over Miami last night.
The Cavs caught a break on Wednesday with Giannis missing that game. They might catch another tonight if Young can’t go plus the Hawks playing on the second night of a back-to-back. SG Dejounte Murray played 40 minutes last night as that game went down to the wire.
Caris LeVert is listed as doubtful for the Cavs.
Atlanta is 18-23 overall and 8-11 at home. Last night they beat the Heat in Miami without Trae Young, so they will be playing the second night of a back-to-back, although with a short flight, while the Cavs have had two days off.
The Hawks started the season 4-2 but have since gone 14-21. Starting forward De’Andre Hunter, averaging 14.9 points on 46% overall and 40% on 3’s, is out. Trae Young missed last night’s game with an illness and is questionable for tonight.
The Hawks have about as unbalanced a team as you will see, being all offense and no defense. They rank 4th in scoring offense and 28th in scoring defense. Offensively they are only 19th in effective field goal percentage but are 4th in scoring because they are 3rd in offensive rebound percentage and 2nd in second chance points. All those offensive boards plus a fast pace puts them 1st in shots per game. The key to beating them is getting defensive boards and limiting putbacks.
In the last game the Hawks had just 6 offensive rebounds while the Cavs had 18. That’s how you beat them. In the 14 games since Garland and Mobley went down the Cavs lead the league in defensive rebound percentage, so they match up well against this team.
The Hawks like to go one-on-one, ranking 24th in assist percentage. They’re slightly below average in both 3-point and 2-point percentage. They rank 10th in 3-point rate so they shoot from deep a lot and then crash the offensive glass. They’re above average in free throws per possession, thanks mostly to Tre Young throwing himself into defenders and the refs giving him the call.
Defensively they’re awful, ranking 29th in effective field goal percentage, fast break points per game, and 2-point percentage. They’re 25th in defensive rebound percentage so you can get a lot of second chance points against them. They’re 28th in opponents’ points in the paint and 24th in opponents’ 3-point percentage. Because they crash the offensive glass so much they are frequently out of position to defend the fast break when they fail to get the offensive rebound, leading to their 29th ranking in fast break points allowed.
The Cavs should be able to score inside, outside, and on fast breaks against this team. The first two games they scored 127 and 128 points. In the last game Okoro and Wade had 18 and 16 points as all five starters scored in double figures. This time they’re on the road, but with two days off they should be fine. Jarrett Allen had 25 points and 14 boards in the last game between these teams, going 12-for-14 from the field. Including both games he’s 17-for-20 against the Hawks.
The Cavs are coming off a game where they scored 33 fast break points against Milwaukee, their highest total in over six years. The Hawks rank 29th in fast break points allowed so we could see another track meet for the Cavs.
The Cavs also scored 74 points in the paint against Milwaukee; their highest of the season. The Hawks are 28th in points allowed in the paint so we could see tons of dunks and layups. However, they held Miami to 108 points last night.
Trae Young is their star, of course, averaging 27 points and 11 assists. The Cavs shut him down the first game but he bounced back with 35 points and 10 assists in the last game. SG Dejounte Murray averages 21 ppg on 47%. PF Jalen Johnson averages 14.8 ppg on 57% from the field and 40% on 3’s. He missed the first two games. The Hawks are 14-13 when he plays and 4-10 when he’s out.
SF Saddiq Bey at 13 points and C Clint Capela at 11 points and 10 rebounds round out the starting lineup. SG Bogdan Bogdanovic averages 17 points off the bench and C Onyeka Okongwu averages 9.5 points on 59% from the floor. Nobody else averages more than 3 points per game as the Hawks rely almost exclusively on eight players for their scoring. With Hunter out and probably Young as well they're missing 41 points and could be hard pressed for points tonight, especially if they can't get a lot of offensive boards.
The Hawks had only one win since Dec. 1 against a team over .500 until their upset over Miami last night.
The Cavs caught a break on Wednesday with Giannis missing that game. They might catch another tonight if Young can’t go plus the Hawks playing on the second night of a back-to-back. SG Dejounte Murray played 40 minutes last night as that game went down to the wire.
Caris LeVert is listed as doubtful for the Cavs.
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