Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks: Windhorst Beat Blog
By Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer
April 02, 2010, 12:26PM
View full sizeAP Photo/John AmisThe Cavaliers take on Joe Johnson and the Atlanta Hawks tonight.
CLEVELAND -- Pregame from The Q:
Projected starting lineups
Hawks: Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Al Horford
Cavs: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, JJ Hickson
Officials
Greg Williard, Sean Corbin, Kevin Fehr
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Anderson Varejao is a gametime decision. He didn't take part in all of shootaround and the medical team hasn't yet cleared him to play. They'll watch him before the game in some workouts. Andy, for his part, has made it clear he wants to play and feels he's ready to do so. The Hawks are injury free.
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This has been a game circled on the Hawks calendar for awhile now and they are feeling good about themselves after blasting the Lakers at home on Wednesday. Atlanta hasn't beaten the Cavs in well over a year and they always play up the disrespect angle. The Hawks also feel they were robbed in the last meeting where there was a shot clock malfunction that they protested with the league and they have been waiting for payback. Despite their record against them (Cavs have won eight straight including playoffs), the Hawks feel to a man they can beat the Cavs in a playoff series and they want to start to show that right here.
• The Hawks are an athletic team that love to run the floor and have a host of guys who can score. In general, they're a good offensive team. They are a challenge to defend in the pick-and-roll because they've got active bigs and a couple of great jump shooters. For this reason, the Cavs may play smaller with more Leon Powe than Zydrunas Ilgauskas depending on how things go. Varejao is a vitally important player in a game like this, which is why he wants to play. An area where the Hawks are weaker is interior defense and rebounding. Smith blocks shots and Zaza Pachulia is a big body but the Cavs have been able to get easy baskets by driving the ball and challenging the interior. They also regularly get outrebounded by their opponents. Atlanta has not been a great road team recently either, losing four of their last five away.
