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Key: Southern Comfort
The Cavaliers wrap up the calendar year on Saturday night in Atlanta, closing out their second three-game roadie of the month and trying to snap a five-game skid.
On Friday night in Miami, the Heat prolonged the Wine & Gold’s South Beach slump – winning for the 15th straight time at AmericanAirlines Arena, a skein that stretches back to January 2010.
Cleveland got off to a good start and trailed by only four at intermission, but the Heat held the Cavs to just 17 points on 23 percent shooting in the third quarter, opening up a double-digit lead and cruising to the finish line in the fourth.
Despite racking up just 10 wins on the season, the Hawks come into tonight’s contest as one of the Conference’s hottest teams – winners of four of their last five games, including a 123-120 overtime victory on Friday night in Minnesota, overcoming a nine-point fourth quarter deficit.
Tonight’s matchup will be the third between these squads – with the Hawks spoiling the Cavaliers’ home opener back on October 21 before the Wine & Gold avenged that loss nine days later, scoring a season-high 136 points in their 22-point victory at The Q.
Key: Youth Movement
Tonight’s meeting will feature the first two point guards taken in this past June’s Draft – Trae Young and Collin Sexton.
Though the two teams have split their first two games this season, Young has had the edge individually.
In the first matchup, Young posted an historic rookie outing – going off for 35 points and 11 assists, canning six triples in the process. Cleveland slowed the former Sooner down slightly in the second meeting, “holding” him to 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting.
But Young has actually been outstanding all season long – netting eight 20-point outings so far, plus the 35-point effort against Cleveland. But he’s also been excellent at getting his teammates involved; having posted 11 games of double-digit assists, including a 17-dime effort against the Clippers in late November.
At 7.4 apg, Young leads all rookies by a wide margin and current sits 4th in the Eastern Conference.
Collin Sexton has been scuffling over the past couple weeks, and those struggles continued on Friday night – failing to reach double-digits for the second time in three games, going 2-of-10 from the floor for eight points.
In the two meetings against Young and the Hawks, the Atlanta native is averaging 10.5 points per – posting just four points in the home opener before bouncing back with a 17-point showing in the rematch.
Key: Go Big or Go Home
The rebuilding Hawks are looking for pieces that they can take into the future, and one of those pieces – sophomore big man John Collins – is looking like a real keeper.
The second-year center from Wake Forest comes into Saturday’s rubber match on a tear – doubling-up in 10 of his previous 11 games, averaging 21.6 points and 12.5 boards over that span.
After missing most of the start to the season with a left ankle injury, Collins has been a beast for the Hawks, tallying eight 20-point performances and a 30-point showing against Denver as well as 12 double-digit rebounding games, including a 17-board effort against the Mavericks.
Collins was still rehabbing during the first two meetings between these two squads, but the Cavs will get an up-close and personal look on Saturday night.
Since Tristan Thompson’s injury, the Cavaliers have gone with Channing Frye, Ante Zizic and Larry Nance Jr. in the middle. But it’s obvious that the Wine & Gold miss their leader’s production, toughness and leadership.
Thompson is showing progress and very close to getting back in the starting lineup over the next couple games – possibly even this evening.
Frye got the Cavs off to a solid start on Friday, but he didn’t score after the first period. Nance Jr. was back in his role off the bench and posted a solid stat line – tallying 11 points, seven boards, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Key: Bench Bunch
Where would the Wine & Gold be this season without Jordan Clarkson – who led the squad in scoring for the 16th time on Friday night on South Beach, finishing with 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from long-range, to go with five boards and four assists in 31 minutes off the bench.
The fifth-year guard and Cleveland’s leading scorer has been solid all year long and even better over his last eight games, averaging an even 21.0 points per on 48 percent shooting over all, 39 percent from beyond the arc.
Clarkson has already posted two solid showings against Atlanta this season – going for 19 points in the first outing and 15 more in the second. He’ll need some help on Saturday night if the Wine & Gold hope to salvage their recent roadie.
Matthew Dellavedova has been his steady self since returning to Cleveland, averaging 9.8 points and 4.0 assists per in nine games off the bench.
Larry Nance Jr. has been very good off the bench or in a starting role and, with the Cavaliers fielding only nine healthy bodies on Friday, two-way guy Jalen Jones even got into the act – finishing with four points and four boards.
Key: Next Man Up
During the regular season and in the Playoffs, the Cavaliers have become familiar with Hawks forward Kent Bazemore, who’s having his best season as a pro.
The undrafted swingman from Old Dominion has improved through each of his first seven seasons and he comes into tonight’s contest averaging 14.3 points per.
He’s already posted two 30-point performances this season, including a 32-point outburst two games ago in a victory over Indiana, and over his last eight games is averaging 19.8 points per, shooting 47 percent from the floor and 48 percent from beyond the arc.
It’s unlikely that the Cavs will have Rodney Hood again on Saturday night. But Alec Burks has been solid filling in for Hood and he’s coming off one of his better games as a Cavalier on Friday night – finishing with 17 points in the loss, going 6-of-10 from the floor, adding six boards and five assists.
In 16 games with the squad, the eighth-year man from Colorado has 10.9 points and 5.4 boards per, notching double-figures in nine of those contests.