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The 13-17 Hawks come to town and for the first time in 22 days the Cavs will play an Eastern Conference team with a losing record. The Hawks have played well of late. In their last three games they beat Denver 123-115, beat Boston 122-114, and lost to Boston 121-109. They are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
These teams played in Atlanta on Jan. 2 with the Cavs winning 96-91, back when they were playing defense. Their starters were Drummond, Nance, Exum, Sexton and Garland. With Okoro and Windler out Dante Exum got the start at small forward. That was a pretty good defensive unit that held Trae Young to 16 points on 6-for-16.
The Hawks started Collins, Hunter, Capela, Young and Reddish that game. For tonight’s game De’Andre Hunter is out. He averages 17.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32 minutes, so he’s a key player. Also injured are Kris Dunn, Bogdan Bogdanovich, and Rajon Rondo so the Hawks are a little light in terms of depth.
Young is averaging 26.9 points and 9.5 assists on 43.9% from the field and 37.9% on 3’s.
PF John Collins is averaging 17.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and is shooting 53.1%.
C Clint Capela is at 14.9 and 13.9. It’s been reported that Jarrett Allen wants a contract similar to what Capela got (5 years, $90 million), so it will be interesting to watch this matchup. If Allen wins this battle he could make himself some money.
Cam Reddish is averaging 11.2 points in 29 minutes.
The Hawks rank 14th in scoring which breaks down to 12th in points in the paint and 28th on fast breaks, so they appear to be more of a half-court team. They rank only 23rd in effective field goal percentage and 22nd in 3-point percentage, but they’re very strong on the offensive glass (5th in offensive rebound percentage) and they’re great at drawing fouls (2nd in free throw attempts per play). Young ranks 3rd in free throw attempts behind only Giannis and Embiid, getting to the line 10.3 times per game.
So the Hawks are not great shooters but they go to the line a lot and they also get a lot of offensive rebounds. The Cavs are 27th in defensive rebounding percentage so they will be challenged tonight by the league’s 5th best offensive rebounding team. The Cavs need to get more bodies on the defensive glass, especially when Allen switches off his man to contest a shot.
Defensively the Hawks are below average, ranking 21st in scoring defense. However, they are 8th in opponent’s effective field goal percentage, mainly due to ranking 3rd in opponents’ 3-point percentage. They defend the 3 very well but it’s a different story inside where they are 19th in block percentage and 23rd in points in the paint. I expect the Cavs to take it to the rim and try to get the ball to Allen close to the hoop.
The Hawks are 27th in forcing turnovers and 24th in steals per defensive play, so the Cavs should be able to run their offense and get their shots up. However, Clint Capela ranks 8th in defensive field goal percentage. Jarrett Allen ranks 6th, just behind Gobert and ahead of Embiid. John Collins is 21st.
Cavs fans might get a look at Onyeka Okongwu, who the Cavs skipped in the draft this year in favor of Isaac Okoro. OO has been injured but played 14 minutes in the last game.
Overall it’s hard to be optimistic given that the Hawks beat Denver by 8 two nights ago and split with Boston before that. Young scored 35 on the Nuggets. What I’m seeing this year is when a Cavs opponent is missing a key player due to injury, another player simply steps up and takes more shots and makes up the points. We saw that against Denver the other day. With Millsap out Jamal Murray scored 50. I expect Young to get 40 tonight. He was held to 16 in the first game and I’m sure he’ll remember that.
These teams played in Atlanta on Jan. 2 with the Cavs winning 96-91, back when they were playing defense. Their starters were Drummond, Nance, Exum, Sexton and Garland. With Okoro and Windler out Dante Exum got the start at small forward. That was a pretty good defensive unit that held Trae Young to 16 points on 6-for-16.
The Hawks started Collins, Hunter, Capela, Young and Reddish that game. For tonight’s game De’Andre Hunter is out. He averages 17.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32 minutes, so he’s a key player. Also injured are Kris Dunn, Bogdan Bogdanovich, and Rajon Rondo so the Hawks are a little light in terms of depth.
Young is averaging 26.9 points and 9.5 assists on 43.9% from the field and 37.9% on 3’s.
PF John Collins is averaging 17.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and is shooting 53.1%.
C Clint Capela is at 14.9 and 13.9. It’s been reported that Jarrett Allen wants a contract similar to what Capela got (5 years, $90 million), so it will be interesting to watch this matchup. If Allen wins this battle he could make himself some money.
Cam Reddish is averaging 11.2 points in 29 minutes.
The Hawks rank 14th in scoring which breaks down to 12th in points in the paint and 28th on fast breaks, so they appear to be more of a half-court team. They rank only 23rd in effective field goal percentage and 22nd in 3-point percentage, but they’re very strong on the offensive glass (5th in offensive rebound percentage) and they’re great at drawing fouls (2nd in free throw attempts per play). Young ranks 3rd in free throw attempts behind only Giannis and Embiid, getting to the line 10.3 times per game.
So the Hawks are not great shooters but they go to the line a lot and they also get a lot of offensive rebounds. The Cavs are 27th in defensive rebounding percentage so they will be challenged tonight by the league’s 5th best offensive rebounding team. The Cavs need to get more bodies on the defensive glass, especially when Allen switches off his man to contest a shot.
Defensively the Hawks are below average, ranking 21st in scoring defense. However, they are 8th in opponent’s effective field goal percentage, mainly due to ranking 3rd in opponents’ 3-point percentage. They defend the 3 very well but it’s a different story inside where they are 19th in block percentage and 23rd in points in the paint. I expect the Cavs to take it to the rim and try to get the ball to Allen close to the hoop.
The Hawks are 27th in forcing turnovers and 24th in steals per defensive play, so the Cavs should be able to run their offense and get their shots up. However, Clint Capela ranks 8th in defensive field goal percentage. Jarrett Allen ranks 6th, just behind Gobert and ahead of Embiid. John Collins is 21st.
Cavs fans might get a look at Onyeka Okongwu, who the Cavs skipped in the draft this year in favor of Isaac Okoro. OO has been injured but played 14 minutes in the last game.
Overall it’s hard to be optimistic given that the Hawks beat Denver by 8 two nights ago and split with Boston before that. Young scored 35 on the Nuggets. What I’m seeing this year is when a Cavs opponent is missing a key player due to injury, another player simply steps up and takes more shots and makes up the points. We saw that against Denver the other day. With Millsap out Jamal Murray scored 50. I expect Young to get 40 tonight. He was held to 16 in the first game and I’m sure he’ll remember that.
