GT: Atlanta Hawks @ Cleveland Cavaliers Nov 7 This game sees the 1-1 Atlanta Hawks take on the 2-1 Cleveland Cavaliers at The Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers are coming off the back of a lacklustre display on the road in Charlotte. They will be looking to be back firing on all cylinders on their return to The Q after two games on the road. The Hawks are looking to keep up their play, having had a stellar first half against the Orlando Magic. [div=50%] <font color="#B94056"> The Cavaliers lacked desire against the Bobcats, as they lost 92-88 on a poor display. A scary moment for the Cavs with just 1:45 left on the clock in the fourth quarter when LeBron James was involved in a violent collision with Brevin Knight. He came back, but shot poorly and the Cavs lost. <u>PG</u> ? Eric Snow Snow has been performing his usual role this season; taking care of some of the best ball-handlers in the game. Last season, he generally had to guard the best ball-handler on the opposing team, but this season Larry Hughes will fill that job so Snow will take the second best. Production from these two players should decrease, although it may still be high depending on the quality of player. Snow should match up with Speedy Claxton and Tyronn Lue in this game, and their numbers should suffer accordingly. As always, however, expect Snow?s numbers to be just as low. <u>SG</u> ? Larry Hughes Larry Hughes is back and raring to go, whilst he is still healthy. He has started this season with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal per game. It should be interesting to see how he continues, as he should rack up more steals and assists as he gets back into his rhythm. He is still below his 04-05 season in Washington which saw him average 22 points 6 rebounds 5assists and 3 steals. He is, however, showing that he can be back to those figures, as he contained Gilbert Arenas to just 7 points. He could do the same to Johnson, but I would expect that it would not be quite of the same magnitude as the opening night. <u>SF</u> ? LeBron James The phenom gave Cavaliers fans across the World a fright when he collided with Brevin Knight and played 38 minutes, but shot poorly in the fourth quarter. He looked slightly groggy but, with a day?s rest, he should be better and firing on all cylinders. He will have to look to take his explosiveness through Josh Smith in what is certain to be an electric and athletic matchup. Throughout his career, LeBron has averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists against the Hawks, and I would expect to see similar numbers once again, though perhaps with more points. <u>PF</u> ? Drew Gooden Despite being blocked multiple times against the Bobcats, Gooden was the only Cavalier to show real desire and to live up to his ability in Charlotte on Saturday night. He scored 21 points (almost a quarter of the team?s tally) and grabbed 16 boards (just over a third of the teams total rebounds) on his way to a double-double in vain. He is showing his potential in Cleveland and against rookie Shelden Williams should fare well. <u>C</u> ? Zydrunas Ilgauskas Ilgauskas was one of the better players for the Cavaliers in Charlotte, as he scored 14 points and had 9 rebounds. He is matching up with the young European Center Zaza Pachulia who is looking to prove himself against the best European Center in the NBA. Ilgauskas will be looking to improve upon his play thus far this season and really open the floodgates in this game. <u>Cavaliers? Keys to winning the game</u> <ul> [*]Ensure that LeBron James and Larry Hughes can get into their rhythms early. They are key to the success of this team and if they get going early, then the rest of the team should follow suit. [*]Exploit Shelden Williams. He is still adapting to the NBA game, so it will be necessary to exploit him by playing through the player who he matches up with during the game. [*]Contain Joe Johnson. The Atlanta Hawks need him to play well, and if the Cavs can prevent him from scoring too many, then the Hawks have very few other options to take over the game. [/list] </font> [/div] <font color="#CE364F"> The Atlanta Hawks are an interesting team, who look to be set for the future. Most of their starters are very young, and their future will be bright. Joe Johnson is their key player and they need him to get going early if they are to stand a chance. <u>PG</u> ? Speedy Claxton Claxton is an energetic guard who has been around the block so far as he enters his 6th season in the NBA. He has played for 5 different teams in the NBA (in Philadelphia, San Antonio, Golden State on two occasions, New Orleans on two occasions and Atlanta this season). He has started this season poorly, by his standards, with more minutes than his career average, but less of everything else. No doubt he will still be adjusting to Atlanta?s style of basketball, so an improvement should be seen shortly. Expect for him to have low-productivity in this matchup. Expect, also, for Tyronn Lue to share the floortime almost 50/50 with him. <u>SG</u> ? Joe Johnson Joe Johnson is the key to any chances that the Hawks may have in this game and in this season. He averaged 20 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists per contest last season and, it appears, that this will only increase this season. He is a player who can hurt you from outside, or drive to the basket. Larry Hughes will have to be back to his best in order to stop Johnson in this game. <u>SF</u> ? Josh Smith Josh Smith is just the player the scorers hate to see play. He can notch up 10 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals or 5 blocks (or virtually any combination of the 5) on any given night. Whilst his points rarely top 15, his energy all over the court enforce his status as a key player in the Hawks armoury. His task in this game will be to try to contain LeBron James. Needless to say, it will be a task envied by no-one. <u>PF</u> ? Shelden Williams Williams was the 5th selection in this years NBA Draft. He was selected out of Duke and has started his first two games for Atlanta this season. However, in 42 total minutes of play, he has scored just 2 points. He has, however, grabbed 12 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards. His average should increase as he becomes more accustomed to the pace and style of the NBA. He is averaging 1.5 blocks per game, and that could threaten the Cavaliers. Regardless, however, I do not expect him to have a huge impact on this game. Maybe in a few years, however. <u>C</u> ? Zaza Pachulia Pachulia has looked very strong in the opening games for the Hawks, as he has averaged 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a block so far this season. He must get his play right if the Hawks are to stand a chance. He will need to contain Ilgauskas and avoid being contained in order to help steer the Hawks in the right direction. From his vast improvements over the past two seasons, this is a very viable option, and could, in fact, happen. I?m wouldn?t be surprised to see a 20-10 game here. <u>Hawks? Keys to winning the game</u> <ul> [*]Contain LeBron James. As always, if you can stop him getting into a rhythm and make the rest of the Cavs take the work load, you will have a chance. [*]Get Joe Johnson going early. Johnson is a player who can take over the game with precision shooting a great drives to the basket. With him firing early, the Hawks can make the Cavs chase the game. [*]Send the Cavaliers to the line. So far this season, they are shooting 62-102 (60.7%) from the line. With that percentage, if you make them shoot a lot of free-throws, their points tally will suffer accordingly. Shoot well yourself, and this gap will seem even larger. [/list] </font> <u>Prediction</u> The Hawks and Cavaliers have met 10 times since the entry of LeBron James to the League. The Cavaliers have won 8 of these games, with a cumulative score of 1114-1010. I expect this game to be no different, as the Cavs? superior class should be the difference between the teams. However, I do suspect that the game will be close than a lot of people may think. <font color="#CE364F">93</font>- <font color="#B94056">98</font> <font size=""1"">N.B. This was finished at half time of the Hawks-Magic game</font>
It's definitely not on in England, lol. If it's not on any national channels, it should be on FSN Ohio or something like that.
<div class="quote_poster">Mr.Spectacular Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Do you know what channel the game's gonna be on?</div> Fox Sports Ohio I agree with Dream, the Hawks match up well, and their bench has been exceptional. The Hawks are horrendous on the road, and are inconsistent enough to be blown out by the Cavs. The Hawks rely heavily on Joe Johnson for them to win games, and when his shot is off, Atlants struggles to put points on the board. Larry Hughes should be able to force Johnson to work extra hard on offense, so I predict the Cavs to win this game and improve to 3-1 on the season.
Joe Johnson played well last game. But shapecity is right, Hughes can hold him for -30 points. I think that Drew will make a great game again beacuse Atlanta's low post defense isn't comparable to Charlotte's Emeka, May etc. Hopefully, James will not have a off night again and we can see a 30+ points perfomance from him. Go Cavs ! I have to download this game from DavkaBT !:S
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"We didn't show up," Hawks forward Josh Childress said. "We've won our last two games [both at home] playing the way we intended to [in Philly]. Granted, playing in front of your own fans makes a big difference. But we're different, we're not the same team we were two years ago or last year."</div> Source The Hawks are making an effort to win on the road this season, so the Cavs better be ready for a fired up Atlanta team. Believe it or not, but the Hawks are actually leading the Souteast Division.
Real ugly game so far. The Hawks have a 3 point lead in the 3rd quarter, and it's basically been LeBron v. Joe Johnson for most of the night.
Nice finish. I caught parts of each quarter and the ending. It wasn't a great game by either team (at times real ugly on the defensive side), but I liked how Atlanta kept it together at the end. They definitely do have some depth.
Dammit, a loss again. At least James had a nice game and his fg was 50% also. Drew had another good game but Z's new role on the team is still unaccustomed for him.
I heard LeBron walked off the court before the game ended last night. He was embarrassed his team lost to Atlanta.
Bron needs to learn how to shoot FT's....that game would've been over had he made his 3 foul shots that he missed in the 4th......David Wesley shouldn't be playing for the cavs or in the NBA for that matter....and when it's crunch time, the ball needs to touch Brons hand every possession.
They are gonna have some serious work to do against the Bulls, who are looking real good so far this season. This could be an upsetting start to our season...
hopefully they'll be up for the bulls and hopefully Shannon Brown and Gibson see some playing time, because Wesley and Jones = worthless.
If only Jones could get his stroke back and become the 'Greatest Shooter in the Universe' that he claims he is. I, too, would like to see the two rookies, but at least Shannon Brown, given a fair chance in games, as I think they can have more of an impact than they are being given credit for. Just about to post the Bulls preview now.
Damon Jones is a horrible player. I don't know how many times I just saw him standing their with his hands on his hips.
