GAME 24 | Cavs vs Hawks | Dec. 13, 2008 | 7:30 PM

[djlofi]

The Starters

The Bench Bunch

Hawks Starters

Hawks Bench

<table cellpadding=5 border=1><Tr><td>Acie Law</td><td>Flip Murray</td><td>Maurice Evans</td><td>Solomon Jones</td><td>Zaza Pachulia</td></tr>
<tr><td>Speedy Claxton</td><td>Mario West</td><td>Othello Hunter</td><td>Randolph Morris</td><td>Thomas Gardener</td></tr>
</table>

INJURIES

For the Cavs:
Zydrunas Ilgauskus
Daniel Gibson
Eric Snow

For the Hawks:
Speedy Claxton​

KEYS TO THE GAME

ONE GAME AT A TIME: Earlier today I posted an article from SI about how the Cavs are rolling, yet need to avoid complacency to stay on a championship course this season. On Friday, the Cavs clamped down on defense and held the 76ers to 72 points. With two of their key rotational players out. This team is deep, in synch and is proving night in and night out that they belong among the elite in the league.

Tonight, they can close out a stretch of four games in five nights with four wins, and stamp out a playoff-caliber team.

CONTAIN JOE: Joe Johnson scored four points at the Q the last time these two teams squared off. He's the only guy on this Atlanta team that gives the Hawks a chance on Saturday. He gets going, and watch out. Expect him to be the focus of Mike Brown's defensive scheme.

$10 MILLION DOLLAR AUDITION: Anderson Varejao gets his chance to prove he's worth the big contract he and his agent thought he deserved last summer with meaningful minutes filling in for the injured Z. His stat line against Philly on Friday night: 17 pts, 7 rebs, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 35 minutes. And he only had one foul. In this league, those numbers consistently get a skilled bigman a wage somewhere in the 11-14 million dollars a year range (see: Bogut, Andrew; Biedrnis, Andris). The Cavs are a quarter through the season, and so far, AV has been playing like he deserves a nice raise from Mr. Gilbert.

SASHA-WATCH: One guy I'm watching closely this year is Sasha Pavlovic. Mike Brown is giving him the same tough love treatment that he did two years ago that challenged Sasha to play smarter and commit to defense. This year, Sasha came in hungry, but fell to the end of the rotation. With the blowouts, and now the injury to Soul Shooter, he's getting a second chance to earn some minutes. When he's out on the court, he doesn't particularly stand out, but he makes at least one or two meaningful plays that lead to something good happening for the Cavs. Against the Sixers, he had about four of these plays, including the steal on Brand, the assist to Wally and the three off a shaky pass from LeBron.

DJIII EMERGING: On Tuesday, I found it curious that DJIII got most of the minutes for the fourth big, while JJ didn't see the court at all. I'm liking what I see from the young fella who's handled some tough assignments this week in Bosh and Brand. I can only hope JJ is taking some notes about what it means to play defense. I see too much Drew Gooden in JJ than I would particularly care for. Don't get me wrong, I think he has the skill and desire to learn Mike Brown's defensive schemes, but right now, it's not even close on that end of the floor between the rookies.

BENCH: Have you ever heard of Thomas Gardener? The Hawks have a thin bench, so expect the theme of tomorrow's game to be make life hell for the Hawks' starting five.

Jam of the Game: Inspired by the Hardwood Classic jerseys

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Because the Cavs are going to stomp all over the Hawks

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4, 5, 6...CHAMPIONSHIP

If you haven't already, check out Wine and Gold's post about the changes on Mike Brown's coaching staff. Really a great read from an insider perspective. Check it out here:

http://www.realcavsfans.com/showthread.php?t=15675

UNDERSTANDING AUSTIN

From Austin Carr's blog:

Our whole team now is focused on dominating the opponent. They're not worried about little petty stuff. The petty stuff is gone. I'm not knocking anybody we had on the team before, but the petty stuff bothered us. This team is focused on one thing: we have this one goal and the question is, how do we get there? They're not worried about the little stuff. There was always a bottleneck there that hurt a good flow. And that's not there anymore.

I just think the individuals we have on the team now, they're mindsets are different. A lot of the guys we had before were set in their ways and some of them didn't know how to be happy. I'm not going to mention any names, but they just didn't know how to be a positive team member. Their whole careers they had been in negative situations. They didn't know how to be positive.

All that has changed. That positive energy is great, and the team is feeding off it. It permeates through the whole team. Now, they have like a college spirit - and that's really refreshing in the pro game.

What he really means:

"The athletes on this squad comprise a cohesive unit of talent that is focused on the goal of success, that being the NBA Championship. Previous members, of which I will not mention, of this squad lacked this trait, which in effect held the unit back.This year, however, some of the lesser talents from this squad have contributed meaningful performances in a productive season. Thus, from this I can conclude that the Cavaliers are experiencing success based on my above reasons."

I love AC! Haha, he would tell me to get that weak stuff outta here, young man, for sure.

Stream the game courtesy of KingBoobie
http://albaaa.altervista.org/watch.php?id=102

 

[Typhoon]

hell yeah first thanks came from me baby

nice game thread
lets get the win tonight

 

[JJ Smooth]

Great game thread djlofi. You made a mistake though, the Cavs are playing the Hawks, not the Pac Men.

I agree on all your points too on how we need to contain Joe Johnson. I'd also toss in Josh Smith, but with the defense that Ben has been playing lately I'm expecting a minor threat at most. Bottom line is it comes down to the bench and role players, and if our squad comes out we got this with ease. (Even if they don't come out, I'm still expecting a win.)

 

[wuck]

I'm impressed that Brown's teams are 7-1 on the fourth night of 4 games/5 nights. I'll be more impressed when they're 8-1.

Another fun fact for the future: the Cavs only have one more sequence of 4 games/5 nights this year. It's a doozy: 4 games on the road (Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Miami) from Feb. 26 to Mar. 2. But at least that's the only other one.

 

[roozy]

JJ has not been as bad as Drew Gooden... come on.

 

[hn3108]

JJ has a threat to be "Drew Like" BUT, the only difference is JJ is a rookie and will be corrected and still has time to grow. Drew was basically given the strating job here in absence of Boozer.

 

[hn3108]

OK on to the game. Hawks scare me with the potential. For you DBZ fans theyre like Gohan. LOL sorry for the refernce. I think if we put the clamps on Joe Johnson and Ben plays like he has been on Josh Smith we will be ok. What scares me is the Hawks exploiting us like the 76er's did in game 1. Also, I think they may be looking for revenge. On the other hand we still have Lebron the ultimate wearpon. Our shootoing for our starters are looking good, our bench is playing well, and AV is playing like he should. One last note both teams are on the 2nd night of a back-to-back

 

[Dungong]

I think the Hawks lack of depth is going to show here, but they've been impressive. Joe Johnson has been underrated since coming to ATL, Bibby seems to have been just what this team needed to pull together some young guys, and Josh Smith is one of the most explosive guys in the league. Him and Lebron should be a fun one to watch. Horford is coming along nicely, but I like our defenders down low to contain him. This is the 4th ranked team in the East right now, one of the better teams we've played lately, and they'd have a better record if healthy. At least they are on game 4 in 5 nights too.

 

[Maximus]

This one worries me...

 

[The Oi]

On the road...against a young, talented team...on a back to back...

This one could end the streak. Just as I have been all along though, I'll be highly impressed if they can pull this one off.

 

[johnny]

I'm hoping for a win on this one.

 

[Rick Astley]

This one worries me...

OK I've had it with you. I'm going to tell on you on your mom.

 

[Wally World]

If Wally,Sasha and Andy plays good.....No worries....If not then we have the big problem here....

 

[Lee]

This should be the streak ender. I dont see a win here. Z out. Boobie out. Rookies being relied on to play heavy minutes. Lack of guard depth, sasha only quality guard off the bench. (wally is a foward not a guard, kinsey not quality) This one will be tough to pull out. Winning this one will be stealing one on the road. Atlanta is a playoff team and they are healthy. If we win, this team might be better than I think they are, and I think we are good enough to win the championship. Either way, win or loss, I am very happy with this team.

 

[KingSimba]

This is gonna be an extremely tough game but I think we can pull it off