For anyone that remembers my last Cavs game preview, let me reiterate: “first and foremost, my apologies to any and all of you hoping for an Andrew novella in preview to this game. A lot of times when you go to a pinch hitter late in a game, you have to talk yourself into thinking a part-time .260 hitter can come through in the clutch. Buckle up.”
It’s simple: if the Cavs win tonight, they guarantee at least a tie with Orlando for best record in the East, and lower their best-in-the-NBA magic number to one. That’s really the only focus of this game. Yes, it would be nice to see them shoot better from the free-throw line, and/or to see some improvement in areas such as guard play and not giving up easy buckets on defense. At the end of the day, though, the team is really just on cruise control and is coasting in their “war of attrition” move to clinch the overall #1 seed going into the playoffs.
Projected Starting Lineups
Atlanta Hawks:
-G Mike Bibby (9.1 ppg, 4.0 apg, 0.9 spg, 13.03 PER)
-G Joe Johnson (21.3 ppg, 4.9 apg, .367 3P%, 19.23 PER)
-F Marvin Williams (10.0 ppg, 5.2apg, 1.1 apg 12.84 PER)
-F Josh Smith (15.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 21.52 PER)
-C Al Horford (14.2 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 19.50 PER)
Key Reserves: Jason Collins, Jamal Crawford, Maurice Evans, Zaza Pachulia, Jeff Teague, Mario West
Injuries: no significant injuries
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Mo Williams (15.4 ppg, 5.2 apg, 1.1 spg, 15.45 PER)
-G Anthony Parker (7.1 ppg, 1.9 apg, .413 3P%, 9.50 PER)
-F LeBron James (29.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 8.5 apg, 31.58 PER)
-F Antawn Jamison (19.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 0.3 bpg, 17.49 PER)
-C JJ Hickson (8.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.5 bpg, 15.06 PER)
Key Reserves: Delonte West, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Daniel Gibson, Jamario Moon, Jawad Williams
Injuries: Anderson Varejao (game-time decision—hammie), Shaquille O’Neal (out—thumb), Sebastian Telfair (out—groin tear YEEOUCH)
Team Efficiency Stats
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-Off (102.1 ppg, 42.5 rpg, .487 FG%, 22.3 apg, 14.0 TOpg, Eff-109.1, Rank-2)
-Def (94.8 ppg, 38.5 rpg, .438 FG%, Eff-100.9, Rank-7)
Atlanta Hawks:
-Off (102.1 ppg, 41.6 rpg, .467 FG%, 21.8 apg, 11.9 TOpg, Eff-109.0, Rank-4)
-Def (97.4 ppg, 41.7 rpg, .462 FG%, Eff-104.1, Rank-15)
Previous Matchups
Future Matchups
4. Cleveland at Atlanta – 04/14/10
Game Notes
The Hawks are coming off of a pretty sound thumping of the Lakers on Wednesday night, and do have a little bit more to play for in that they’re still technically only 3.5 games behind Orlando for the division lead. And, as Windhorst points out, they want payback for the last game’s shot-clock rigmarole. Plus, the Cavs have generally owned the Hawks’ collective manhood for the better part of a year and a half. That playoff series was an emasculation for the ages. But I digress…
Much like my last preview, I’m going to cop out and crib from Windy:
• 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.• 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.
Let’s hope their road woes continue tonight.
Next Game For The Cavaliers
Sunday, April 4, 2010 1:00 PM EDT
Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics
FSOH/WTAM
