Cavaliers @ Hawks <div align="center"> </div> <div align="center">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (27-36) @ ATLANTA HAWKS (20-42)</div> GAME INFO : 7.30pm EST Monday, March 8. TV : CLE, TUR SEASON SERIES : Cavaliers 2, Hawks 1. LAST MEETING : Atlanta 80 at Cleveland 112 (March 3rd) ROAD/HOME RECORDS : Cavaliers 9-23 (Road) Hawks 13-17 (Home) Head Coaches Paul Silas/Terry Stotts Probable Starters Jeff McInnis/Jason Terry LeBron James/Boris Diaw Eric Williams/Stephen Jackson Carlos Boozer/Chris Crawford Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Joel Przybilla KEY BENCH MEN Tony Battie / Bob Sura Lee Nailon / Wesley Person INJURIES : Cavs - Kedrick Brown, Ruben Boumtje Boumjte. Hawks - Travis Hanson, Terrell Brandon, Chris Mills, Alan Henderson, Zeljko Rebraca, Obinna Ekezie KEYS TO THE GAME <u>Cavaliers</u> * Pound it into the paint to Z, Boozer and Williams * Pressure Terry and get the ball out of his hands * Minimise open looks for Jackson, Person. * Attack the basket, spread the floor and hit free throws * McInnis to really push the ball at Terry and make him work. * Hawks have no frontcourt depth, draw fouls and test it! <u>Hawks</u> * Spread the floor and hit outside shots * Rebound, hustle, rebound, hustle, etc. * Penetrate and draw fouls on Cavs bigs. * Run plays off picks * Trial zone defense * Przybilla needs to stay away from foul trouble. Karma's Call The Cavaliers look for their first four game winning streak of the season when they travel to Atlanta to meet the slumping Hawks! Cleveland seeking to solidify its playoff position should feel confident of taking the series against the Hawks who have cleared contracts, and are just playing for pride (or lottery position). The main danger facing Cleveland will be complacency after good home/away wins over Milwaukee and New Orleans. Atlanta do have the shooters to worry the below average Cleveland perimeter defense, but the Cavaliers do have a major advantage inside. It's hard to see an upset here, pariculary after the Cavaliers 32 point win over Atlanta last week. However the Hawks have upset better teams than Cleveland numerous times at home! Cavaliers by 12
Atlanta just doesnt have what it takes in the low post. Z and Boozer will be a killer. Contain JTerry and SJax and we should be able to win by double figures.
Thanks for the edit Redscoon.... This is a team we should beat just by dominating the boards. Crawford is a bit of an X-factor to me. Hopefully he wont get hot from range as Booz will have trouble defending him from out there! Both Przybilla and Crawford are foul prone, so Booz and Z need to stay aggressive and force them to sit! Great oppotunity for another convincing victory and get into double figures for away victories!
I expect that the Cavs to win this one big, maybe 10-20 points, and LBJ will, get this have 40+ points.
There is no reason (unless they are sat early due to massive lead) that Z and Boozer shouldn't combine for +40 points and 20 rebounds! Atlanta have noone to matchup on them. As long as we keep Jackson and Terry in check, we should have no worries. I hope the Cavs are not looking past this game. Thats the danger!
If the Cavaliers need any extra motivation for this game, all they have to do is remember how fun it was the last time they played the Hawks!
I wouldn't get over confident (although I guess we can cuz we're just fans ) because Atlanta at times can be tough at home. Off the top of my head I know they have beaten Minnisota, San Antonio and the Lakers plus more good teams on their home floor. And add the fact that we just thrashed them by 32 less then a week ago if this team has any heart whatsoever they are gonna bring it on Monday.......... Good thing Atlanta has no heart Cavs by 14
And the fact a loss put them a game outside the top 8! Getting to the 8th seed wasn't to hard, staying there will be! Have to take advantage of this lopsided game!
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Good thing Atlanta has no heart Cavs by 14</div> Bahaha! Great closing sentence. I didn't expect it at all.
As long as the effort is better than what they put out on the floor last Monday night, this should be 4 in a row. I don't see how the Hawks can even call themselves an NBA team right now.
This to me is the test of the week. We have played damn good basketball, beat playoff teams in playoff style basketball games, but this is where usually the Cavs seem to, well, choke. Cavs should clobber this team, end of story. Even if they win and it is a close one, I won't be happy. They need to handle their business.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">Cavs should clobber this team, end of story. Even if they win and it is a close one, I won't be happy. They need to handle their business.</div> If I were you I certainly wouldn't be dissapointed if you don't blow them out. Believe it or not they compete on their home court by beating some damn good teams. When their backcourt are on, It's tough to beat them.
Cav's are playing great lately. The Hawks always put up a fight, but they just aren't able to keep up with many teams. With a two strong big guy's, and LBJ moving the ball the Cav's should have this one. Cav's by 8.
we must not look past the hawks. im sure everyone in the locker room knows we have a HUGE 1 at toronto on wednesday. however, it means nothing to win at toronto if we drop this 1 tonight. just listening to the interviews given by our players and coach silas lately, this team got the message from the wakeup call at chicago. cavs will look impressive tonight in a victory, but it will not be by 32 points. i think stephen jackson will play just as hard tonight as he did last wednesday. something tells me he wants to wear wine and gold next season. i look for the hawks to look like an nba team tonight, but not a very good 1. GO CAVS, KEEP IT ROLLIN
Big Game This game is a lot bigger than most people are giving it credit for. Atlanta is not a good team, but they are more than capable of an upset win...especially if the cavs go into their weak ass zone D. I would like to remind people that this is a must win since the Cavs have never beaten Toronto (next game) when Vince Carter has played. The cavs need to at the very least split these games, and hopefully win both, but the track record against vince is scary. I also worry, since the Cavs have not yet this year been able to push a 3 game winning streak to 4 games in a row. Its games like these that will determine if the cavs can really make a playoff push. If they look past teams like Atlanta, come late April they will be on the outside looking in.
I know the Hawks have lnocked off some good teams at home, but that is because teams look past them, that is why I said it is a big test for this young team.
Mentally this is a tough game! We need this one as Cali said, we have a awful record against Toronto when Carter plays! Actually we have no record as we've never beaten him! Back to the game. We must pressure there shooters. They live and die on Jackson and Terry!
Cavs arent going to play zone, Atlanta doesn't depend on low post points. They are all about perimeter.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mr_Infante:</div><div class="quote_post">Cavs arent going to play zone, Atlanta doesn't depend on low post points. They are all about perimeter.</div> Although Jason Terry is dangerous, they aren't a real talented penetrating team. No reason at all to stand of the perimeter players. We should be forcing them to attack us which should mean turnovers!
