Happy Birthday, And Boo – Hawks vs Cavaliers: Behind the Box Score

Cleveland Cavaliers (18-13) 101
Atlanta Hawks (23-8) 109

Box Score

The Cavs and the Hawks each notched a blowout victory in the teams’ first two matchups. In both games, the winning team shot better than 57 percent on threes and scored 127 points. Both were anomalous results, and a closer game was to be expected when the clubs met on LeBron James’ birthday in the ATL.

Adding to the intrigue was the late scratch of LeBron, who sat out with knee soreness. Without No. 23 and the injured Anderson Varejao, the Cavs had their work cut out for them against an opponent that had won 15 of its last 17.

Kyrie Irving led the way in the first quarter, the second was a slog, and the shorthanded Cavs battled back in the third. When Kevin Love left the game with back spasms in the third quarter, the mountain grew steeper still.

The fourth quarter was a battle. James Jones provided an unexpected defensive boost. Joe Harris knocked down some threes. Dion Waiters (!) made some nice passes. Tristan Thompson threw down some monster alley-oops. And yet, Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap ensured that the Hawks’ beaks stayed just in front of the Cavaliers’ swords.

20 & 31 – The Cavs’ turnover total and the Hawks’ points off turnovers, respectively. The Cavs cleaned up their act a bit in the second half, but 20 is way too many giveaways, especially without two of the LeBron/Love/Kyrie trio. The Cavs struggled with their rotations for much of the evening, in part because they were caught in so many transition situations. In contrast, the Cavs’ first points off a turnover didn’t come until midway through the third quarter, when Matthew Dellavedova knocked down a three after a Cleveland steal.

26 & 9 – Paul Millsap’s point and rebound totals. He was a beast Tuesday night, and he and Jeff Teague two-manned the Cavs to death in the fourth quarter. Millsap is no stranger to popping out beyond the arc, but on this night he eschewed the deep ball in favor of bulling Tristan Thompson and the Cavs’ overmatched front line. An excellent game from the Louisiana Tech Bulldog. He also made me wonder:

is it true that if you boil Paul Millsap he turns into Paul Millsyrup

— Will Gibson (@wjcgibson) December 31, 2014

0-of-5 – Tristan Thompson’s free throw numbers. TT is shooting a not-quite-respectable 66 percent from the stripe this year, but the missed freebies really hurt the Cavs in Atlanta. A few converted free throws would have erased at least one possession from the deficit and given the Cavs a better chance at pulling out the victory.

That said, I am not the least bit upset with Tristan. He had 18 points and 13 rebounds and he played with his hallmark hustle for 42 minutes. He threw his chest into Millsap as best he could. He laid out for every rebound. He showed fight, the exact thing these Cavs have not shown this season. He also did this to poor Jeff Teague:

13-of-31 (42 percent) – Cleveland’s three-point shooting numbers. The long ball kept the Cavs in this one, especially in the third quarter. Joe Harris knocked down three triples en route to a career-high 13 points. James Jones added three more, as did Kyrie Irving. Were it not for those threes, the Hawks could have run away with this one.

35, 9, and 6 – Kyrie Irving’s points, assists, and rebounds, in his first game back from injury. While he committed a season-high nine turnovers, including a few occasions when he was stripped clean, Kyrie was terrific. Some of his jumpers were short, but he got to the rim and made ridiculous layups and generally did Kyrie things. He had a four-point play and three-point play in the first quarter. He got nailed by a bunch of stout screens from Pero Antic and Millsap, but he worked all night.

3 & 2 – James Jones’ steal and block totals. You read that correctly. The three-point specialist saw 26 minutes of action and provided a shocking spark on defense. This was likely a one-off performance on the defensive end, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t fun to watch the 34 year-old turn back the clock a little bit.

I was pleased with the Cavs effort, with that last word being the operative one. Kevin Love struggled before leaving the game, Mike Miller took zero shots, and plenty of tactical and personnel concerns remain. But the Cavs played hard in Atlanta, and that (hopefully) means something. They played with a little grit. They would be well-served to play with that instead of entitlement.

The Hawks lost just twice in December. They’re a good team. This defeat is not married to a falling sky. This game showed progress; that is, if you’re willing to accept a moral victory for a team expecting a championship one.