Cavs vs. Hawks (Jan 2nd, 7:00pm)

[TheAdmin]

*Quick Facts*​

· The Cavaliers have won three straight games against the Atlanta Hawks. Since the 2003-04 season, Cleveland is 12-3 against the Hawks.

· In four games against the Hawks last season, LeBron James averaged 28.8 points on .478 shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists.

· Cleveland has held its opponents to an average of 83.0 points and .405 shooting from the field and .226 shooting from three point range in the last three games.

· Zydrunas Ilgauskas finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for his team-leading 16th double-double last game at New Orleans. Over the past 10 games, he is averaging 15.4 points on .488 shooting from the field and .865 shooting from the free throw line (32-37) and 8.2 rebounds per game.

· In the fourth quarter of the last nine games, the Cavaliers have allowed an average of 19.3 points on .357 (56-157) shooting including .083 (3-36) from three-point range.

· The Hawks finished with a 9-4 December, the third best in the east behind Boston (13-1) and Detroit (15-2). Their most wins in December since the 1993-1994 season. Last year the Hawks went 3-13 in December.

· Josh Smith became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 600 blocks (21 years 358 days) on 11/27. He is currently the only player in the top ten in blocks (ranked 2nd at 3.2 per game) and Steals (ranks 10th at 2.0 per game).

 

[TheAdmin]

An extremely athletic team that likes to get points the old fashioned way by plowing into the paint. the Cavs have to pack the lane and force the Hawks into long jumpers. Outside of Joe Johnson, who is barely adequate, the Hawks do not have a 3pt thread.

 

[Splitz]

I'm going to give my most modest prediction for this game. Larry Hughes will go 19/20 from the field, increase his vertical by 6 inches, pass the ball successfully at least twice, and throw down a 2 handed reverse alley oop dunk without even injuring himself. After the game he will put in 10 hours of community service by helping Lebron nurse a nasty hangover.

 

[PIP]

I too hope LeBron is in good enough shape to compete in this contest...

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Ah come on, I played rec ball one morning after a late night bender. And I was in my upper 20s.

Dry heaved a bit in the afternoon....no worries though.

 

[PIP]

Yea, but you're a superior fine tuned athlete, Chi...

 

[CavsRules]

We should be able to win this game, but we have had trouble in the past in trying to beat the Hawks. Hopefully this isn't a tough one, get the win and move on.

Key plan, don't let Larry shoot. :-\

 

[Joe Henderson]

why, it's the dreaded Generic Last Name Squad. awesome

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

We should be able to win this game, but we have had trouble in the past in trying to beat the Hawks. Hopefully this isn't a tough one, get the win and move on.

Key plan, don't let Larry shoot. :-\

This will be a tough game...reading the game notes garners this little nugget:

· The Hawks finished with a 9-4 December, the third best in the east behind Boston (13-1) and Detroit (15-2). Their most wins in December since the 1993-1994 season. Last year the Hawks went 3-13 in December.

They are playing good ball right now.

 

[Joe Henderson]

yes but aren't they mostly killing teams at home and playing mediocre away?

 

[Karma]

Very important game. The Hawks are a young squad riding a wave of confidence. Hopefully LeBron can start strong and instill some self doubt that has so commonly been a trait of Hawk squads.

Looks like Cav killer Tyronn Lue is out.

 

[Brizzle]

Tyron Lue is playing. He's got to be sporting his first hair cut since coming into the league.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Atlanta is really struggling with our size so far. Gooden is having his way, and AV just nailed a long jump shot. Horford is going to be a stud, but right now he looks like a rookie. Incidently, Marvin Williams also looks like a rookie.

C'mon Cavs!!

 

[Joe Henderson]

a few nice moves by Boobie. he's battling on D, but if he can hit those drives and mid-range shots consistently...

 

[Maximus]

Did LJ get hit by a basketball or a sniper rifle?