Round 2 Game 1 | Hawks @ Cavs | May 2, 2016 | 7:00 PM EST

[bob2the2nd]

I mentioned it last series, but I was at game 2 against Detroit and it was one of the absolutely worst officiated games I've ever seen. And they won that game big! I wonder if they're doing it just to try and keep games close or what.

I'm not one to blame refs, but the Detroit series was horrifically biased. Obviously I can't comment on tonight's game, but I trust you when you say it was bad.

ill be honest i didnt think tonight was as bad as anything seen in the Detroit series. the first half was actually pretty good, but once atlanta made a run things went down hill pretty quickly

 

[Jig18]

Driving home from the game and a few takeaways:

I truly, honestly believe that Tristan is in the head of Horford/Milsap. He plays them so damn well and Horford second guessed attacking him a couple of times.

Kyrie came out red hot but didn't get many shots/opportunities during the middle quarters before getting hot again in the fourth.

Lue seemed quick with the timeouts tonight if it seemed as if the Hawks would make a run. Kind of different from regular season games.

The free throw attempt discrepancy really pissed me off.

The Bone Thug halftime show lasted 6 minutes and was entertaining(?)

Overall, the crowd was pretty excited. Napoli, Kipnis, Lindor and some other Indians were there but former Indian Mike Aviles had better seats than them. Cool glowing wristbands were given out that glowed in sync to the arena music.

Solid win that felt like it should have been a bigger blowout. Hopefully the guys get some decent rest before Wednesday.

 

[czvo]

All told, the Cavs held at least a nine point lead for 24:31. The Hawks had the one big run, but other than that, the Cavs basically kept them at arm's reach for a majority of the game.

 

[Damien O'Connel]

11

 

[Kizzle]

Guys, we held Korver to one shot attempt. One. That's fucking insane.

Shump Smith and LeBron were locked on tonight

Props to Lue for telling them to drive him away from screens

I actually thought he was good enough to impact the gane without shooting. Guess he isn't


60% 3pt shooters usually erase a guy defensively no matter what

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

For anyone that is mad it wasn't a start to finish blowout, ask the Spurs how much important kicking OKC's ass by 30+ was when it came to playing game two.

Maybe it's a good thing Atlanta showed a little something that we have to respect, because now we know we have to bring it at a higher level in game two if we want to go up 2-0.

 

[gourimoko]

For anyone that is mad it wasn't a start to finish blowout, ask the Spurs how much important kicking OKC's ass by 30+ was when it came to playing game two.

Maybe it's a good thing Atlanta showed a little something that we have to respect, because now we know we have to bring it at a higher level in game two if we want to go up 2-0.

Nailed it.

 

[Andrew]

That was kind of a roller coaster of a game. Cleveland looked too good out there and then the 2nd half happened. I am not going to sit here and dissect why they took their foot off the gas, rather discuss how they withstood the Hawks' surge and took a step in the right direction.

After Atlanta took a 1 point lead with 8 minutes left, Cleveland went on a 25-13 offensive run. They weren't just hitting their shots when it counted, they were all over the court. Grabbing rebounds, boxing out, Cleveland was out there hustling.

While in a perfect world the Cavaliers should have won by 50, this game is a game of runs and Cleveland showed even when they spot Atlanta the lead, they have to play until the horn sounds.

Also gotta mention the sheer protection of the ball. Only 8 turnovers the entire game is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[David.]

where are you finding stats like this

All told, the Cavs held at least a nine point lead for 24:31. The Hawks had the one big run, but other than that, the Cavs basically kept them at arm's reach for a majority of the game.

 

[tocov]

Good solid win.
Cavs handled the storm and took this one on their way to sweep the series.

Good job.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Birdy inspires him.

Birdy and I are joined in pessimism. What can I say?

5 down, 11 to go. Please just get there. I've been waiting since Red Right 88.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

I just know the zebras are going to make some bs call thats gonna kill us in the Finals like the Mozgov travel last year. I can already see it and its already getting me worried.

You HAD to mention the Mozgov "travel". Now I'm going to be angry all night.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

This was one of my main questions when I asked for a breakdown. WTF happened on that play? Were the refs terrible all night? They were shit during the Detroit series and I'm worried it's becoming a trend.

"Becoming"?

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Driving home from the game and a few takeaways:

I truly, honestly believe that Tristan is in the head of Horford/Milsap. He plays them so damn well and Horford second guessed attacking him a couple of times.

Kyrie came out red hot but didn't get many shots/opportunities during the middle quarters before getting hot again in the fourth.

Lue seemed quick with the timeouts tonight if it seemed as if the Hawks would make a run. Kind of different from regular season games.

The free throw attempt discrepancy really pissed me off.

The Bone Thug halftime show lasted 6 minutes and was entertaining(?)

Overall, the crowd was pretty excited. Napoli, Kipnis, Lindor and some other Indians were there but former Indian Mike Aviles had better seats than them. Cool glowing wristbands where given out that flowed in sync to the arena music.

Solid win that felt like it should have been a bigger blowout. Hopefully the guys get some decent rest before Wednesday.

Don't post while you drive! Be careful, Man!

 

[Frank Stallone]

Thoughts... Please tell me if you disagree, curious if I am just overly optimistic...

• #1 thing from the game? J.R. Smith. Dude was fucking GLUE on Korver. There was one play that Korver came off a killer screen and I still don't know how J.R. got to him. Wild defense. No one nationally will credit him, cause it isn't sexy enough but damn so good. Same with Shump. He actually scored a few times too off good shots. J.R. and Shump help them together well outside of the Big 3.
• LeBron looked hella off most of the game. I figured he was hurt but he hit his stride at the end so not too worried.
• A more consistent game from Kyrie in terms of when he scored would've kept that a blowout throughout. The second he turned it on late that shit was over.
• Delly was largely awful
• Frye was eh too, got a lot of minutes, missed open looks
• People keep saying the Hawks will shoot better, but...
  • Horford and Millsap shot poorly because the defense forced them to. Both seemed to take far worse shots than normal due to a lack of wanting to attack TT.
• Love... woof... at first. I think rust hit him the most. He hit shots when he needed to in the end.
• Really sick of them blowing leads, but I am going to chalk it up to: A) rust and B) them just trying to coast when they got the lead. I am fine if they coast... late in the 4th.
• I expect both teams to play a bit better, but I think when both are more polished, the game will be a blowout. Cavs hit a lot of threes, but really did nothing else. They seemed off, and I blame rest.