Southern Charm
The Cavaliers wrap up the season’s unofficial first half on Tuesday night – taking on Trae Young and the Hawks in the final game before Cleveland hosts the 71st annual NBA All-Star Game this weekend.
The Wine & Gold had their four-game win streak snapped on Saturday night, as the wrap up the mini-road trip on Tuesday at State Farm Arena. After rattling off seven straight wins, the Hawks have dropped five of their last seven.
After winning a Friday night thriller in Indiana – coming back from a 21-point first-half deficit – the Wine & Gold couldn’t climb out of a similar hole on Saturday, with Joel Embiid continuing his dominant roll – going off for his second triple-double of the year, leading everyone with 40 points, 14 boards and 10 assists in the win.
Darius Garland returned to the lineup to finish with 27 points, but struggled from the floor in the second half. Jarrett Allen – who was recently named to the Eastern Conference All-Star squad, replacing an injured James Harden – added 13 points, five boards and a block while Evan Mobley finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with eight rebounds.
Even with the loss, the Cavaliers (35-22) have still won 13 of their past 17 and sit in the 3rd seed, just 2.0 games out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks, who reached the Conference Finals one season ago, have struggled to find that same mojo this year. Atlanta (26-30) is currently tied with Washington for the final play-in spot, trying to find their footing for the second half.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Hawks saw Boston explode for 42 points in the third quarter to erase Atlanta’s double-digit first half lead. Trae Young led Atlanta with 30 points and Clint Capela led everyone with 17 boards, but it wasn’t enough to stop the red-hot Celtics, who’ve now run off eight straight.
The Cavaliers will be active during All-Star Weekend in Cleveland. Allen and Garland will appear in the midseason classic. Garland, Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley will take part in the Skills Challenge on Saturday, with Okoro and Mobley in the Rising Stars game on Friday night.
When the squad returns for the second half, they take on the Pistons in Detroit before wrapping up the month of February with home meetings against the Wizards and Timberwolves.
History
Tuesday night marks the third meeting of the season between these two, having split the first pair of meetings. Cleveland got its first win of the season back on October 23, with Ricky Rubio leading the way with 23 points and both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen doubling-up in the win. The Cavs fell in a heartbreaker on New Year’s Eve in Cleveland despite a monster 35-point, 11-rebound effort from Kevin Love off the bench.
After tonight, these two have one more meeting left on the books – a make-up game in Atlanta on March 31.
Overall, the Hawks lead the all-time regular season series, 125-109. But in 12 postseason meetings, the Cavaliers have never lost a game.
The all-time single-game assists leader in the series for Cleveland is four-time All-Star Mark Price, who handed out 20 dimes in a Cavs win at the Coliseum back in 1990. The Hawks all-time leader is none other than Doc Rivers, who finished with 17 assists in a Hawks blowout victory in 1986, with former Cavs head coach Randy Wittman leading all scorers with 30 points.
Connections
Hawks assistant coach Chris Jent was with Mike Brown and Byron Scott’s staff with the Cavaliers from 2006-11 and, of course, played for Ohio State in the early-90s (and was an assistant with the Buckeyes from 2011-13 after leaving Cleveland). Fellow Hawks assistant Melvin Hunt spent many of those same seasons – 2005-10 – with the Wine and Gold.
Isaac Okoro was born in Atlanta and Collin Sexton, in nearby Mableton, GA. Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu and Cavs rookie Evan Mobley both played their college hoops under Andy Enfield at USC.