Well, that was fun. The Cavs continued their winning, and shooting ways in Atlanta. While no player scored over 18 points, seven Cavalier players scored in double digits. They shared the wealth, shared the ball (32 assits) and ended up sharing in a win.
Once again, the Cavs came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. It only took 1:50 in game time for Quin Snyder to take a timeout. The Cavs went up 8-0 early, and continued it to 15-4 and 20-10.
They talked about it on the broadcast – During their seven game win streak they’re trailed the least in the NBA. In part its due to their quick starts, like tonight. Since December 17, the Cavs are 5th in first quarter net rating. Their offensive rating is 125.6 which is 2nd. Getting on top of teams quickly has been the Cavs M.O. which is a complete shift from where they were at.
Prior to December 17, the Cavs were 19th in first quarter net rating. Their +0.5 was barely a break even. Their 113 offensive rating was middle of the pack.
The Cavs went on their streak, and then the Hawks went on theirs thanks to three Cav turnovers. Hawks countered with a 10-2 run and got within 2 points. That’s as close as the Hawks got all night.
The Cavs were going at whoever Trae Young was guarding, and oftentimes would try to get him on switches. Their plan worked, and Young was getting cooked.
Merrill is not shy, that is for sure. Thrust into some early action due to Max Strus getting banged up, Merrill launched 4 three-pointers in 7 minutes. For the game, he got up 14 three-pointers in 30 minutes. So basically, a three-point attempt every 2 minutes. JR Smith is somewhere jealous.
One of the keys @Wham with the Right Hand mentioned was limiting the Hawks offensive rebounds, as they are close to tops in the league and are elite at second chance points. The Hawks had 5 first quarter offensive rebounds but only 2 second chance points. They only had 6 offensive rebounds the rest of the game.
JB Bickerstaff matched substitution patterns all night with Isaac Okoro on Trae Young. Okoro played 18 first half minutes, and ended up matching Young in first half points (10). Young finished the game 6-12 from the field, but did not get to the free throw line, only had 5 assists and was a -20 on the night. Okoro’s strength, length and lateral quickness is a real weapon on scoring guards.
Speaking of Okoro, his two-way impact has really shown up during this win streak and since the others have been out. His perimeter shooting has slid a bit (28.7 3P% in January) but his attacking the rim has ramped up. The Cavs will need him to hit shots to stay on the floor in the playoffs but his rim attacks are a welcome sight.
During the end of the first quarter when the Hawks went on their run, CRAIG! Porter Jr was the only real ball-handler on the floor. With Caris LeVert out, the Cavs were lacking true ball-handlers to rotate. Noticing this, JB Bickerstaff astutely subbed in Donovan Mitchell for Sam Merrill to start the second quarter and the Cavs went from being up 2 to up 9 in just under 2 minutes. Thanks, coach.
The Merrill-Strus-Niang 3-man trio is fun. They shared the court with CRAIG! and Tristan Thompson, and they outpaced Atlanta 14-4 in a 3-minute span. In that time, they hit 4 three-pointers. They’ve played 87 minutes on the year and own a +21.6 net rating. That’s 10th in net rating amongst Cavalier 3-man lineups with at least 50 minutes played.
By halfway through the second quarter, the Cavs already extended their lead to 20 points. It doesn’t take much these days with their shooting.
Max Strus has been in a winter shooting slump but really attacked the rim tonight and was also very good in getting others involved with 7 assists.
Merrill followed suit with 6 assists himself. When you have shooters that can find others off of closeouts and action, it adds even another dimension. The pressure of a perimeter shot is one thing but the ability to play off of the shot as well is extremely useful.
D3AN3R! Dean had three third quarter triples, and finished 5-6 from deep. I can’t stress enough how much different of a team the Cavs are when Dean and Isaac are hitting outside shots.
The questions are coming on how Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley can be integrated well enough together to keep this offense humming. We saw some of it tonight, and can only hope it doesn’t go away. One is utilizing Allen up-top as a hub and allowing his passing to shine. Another is as a roller, stopping at the free-throw line for a floater. Finally, if his mid-range jump shot continues to expand, then it changes everything. His jumper is the quickest, and most direct path to create spacing. But, there are other, schematic ways to help and both Mobley and Allen have the skillset to execute.
Georges Niang has now hit double digits in 6 out of his last 7 games, and has hit 2 3’s in each of those games. Those bench points and the shooting is exactly what they’re paying for off the bench.
Speaking of stat lines that continue: Allen hit another double-double, adding in 2 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks. That is his 11th straight.
The Cavs biggest lead was 27 points in the third quarter and while the score yo-yo’ed a bit between a 20-14 point lead, the Hawks never really challenged at any one point in the second half. By halfway through the fourth quarter, the Hawks waived the white flag and unloaded the bench.
The Cavs have now held teams to under 100 points in 3 consecutive games and in 4 of their last 6.
The three-point shot was the name of the game, and the Cavs finished with one more 3PA than 2PA on the evening.
Up next: The Cavs travel to Orlando for a 7PM (ET) game.
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