Bird Hunting
The shorthanded Cavaliers come into tonight’s matchup with the Hawks needing to right the ship – and quickly – as the postseason push continues for both teams with just a handful of games remaining.
On Wednesday night – with Evan Mobley on the shelf (joining Jarett Allen, Rajon Rondo, Dean Wade and Collin Sexton) – the Wine & Gold (42-34) dropped their homestand finale to Dallas, with Luka Doncic leading a big third-quarter push that put the game just out of reach.
The loss was Cleveland’s fourth in its last five, as J.B. Bickerstaff’s young squad fell two full games behind the Raptors for the 6th spot in the East with five games to go after tonight.
The surging Hawks are coming off an easy win over the Thunder in OKC on Wednesday, with Trae Young going off for 41 points with his friends and family in the stands.
Atlanta’s won eight of its last 11 and sits safely in the 10th-seed, but also well within reach of the Hornets and Nets in the East.
In Wednesday’s loss at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Luka scored 20 of his 35 points in the third quarter to spoil a very good offensive effort by the banged-up Cavs.
Caris LeVert finished with 32 points himself – easily his best as a Cavalier – going 11-for-19 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from long-range and 7-of-8 from the stripe, adding six boards and four dimes.
Darius Garland doubled-up for the sixth time in his last seven outings – adding 25 points, a team-best 10 assists and a game-high four steals. The third-year man from Vandy is averaging 24.9 points and 11.4 assists over that stretch.
Garland will need to be good again, facing off against fellow All-Star Trae Young on Thursday.
Young’s 41-point performance on Wednesday was his third 40-point game in the last two weeks and ninth on the season, with a 56-point outburst on January 3 in Portland. One of those nine was in Atlanta’s last matchup with Cleveland, going off for 41 in a February 15 Hawks victory.
The Cavaliers wrap up the mini-trip on Saturday night in New York before returning home for a Sunday night showdown with the Sixers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The following week, they depart for Orlando, then Brooklyn before closing out the 2021-22 regular season the following Sunday night at home against Milwaukee.
History
Young’s aforementioned 41-point outburst was key in Atlanta’s victory just before the All-Star Break. Cleveland took the first meeting back on October 23, with Ricky Rubio, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley leading the way. The Hawks also handed the Cavs a New Year’s Eve heartbreaker despite a huge 35-point, 11-rebound effort by Kevin Love off the bench.
Overall, the Hawks lead the all-time regular season series, 126-109. But in 12 postseason meetings, the Cavaliers have never lost a game.
The all-time single-game assists leader in the series for the Cavs is Mark Price, who handed out 20 assists in a Cavs win at the Coliseum back in 1990. The Hawks all-time leader is 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 Joe Prunty was with the Wine & Gold from 2010-13 on Byron Scott’s staff.