Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks
by:MYoung

Place: Gund Arena in Cleveland, OH
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: FSN Ohio/WTAM 1100

Projected Cavaliers Starters:

PG: Jeff McInnis
SG: LeBron James
SF: Eric Williams
PF: Carlos Boozer
C:  Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Cavaliers Injury Report: C Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (ankle sprain) and SG J.R. Bremer (patella tendinitis) are on the injured list. 

Projected Hawks Starters:

PG: Jason Terry
SG: Boris Diaw-Rifford
SF: Stephen Jackson
PF: Chris Crawford
C:  Joel Przybilla

Hawks Injury Report: SF Chris Mills (Achilles tendon, bone spurs), PF Obinna Ekezie (torn ACL) and PF Alan Henderson (lower back strain) are on the injured list.  C Zeljko Rebraca (back) is out.  SG Bobby Sura (dislocated finger) is day-to-day.  SG Travis (foot stress reaction) was activated but isn't expected to play.

Key Matchups:

Carlos Boozer vs, Chris Crawford - No Hawk has benefited more from the franchise total deconstruction than Chris Crawford.  He has been hurt for last few seasons with knee injuries and is now getting a chance to play in the first time in years.  Starting at PF since the second Rasheed Wallace trade Crawford is averaging 18.3ppg, shooting 50% from the field, 38% from 3pt range along with 5rpg.  Crawford is mainly a jumpshooter with three point range.  He can spot up off the drive and kick or the pick and pop.  The Hawks are more wide open now so you may have to find him early in transition.  Before he was hurt Crawford was never a great athlete and that was while playing the SF position.  Boozer has a size and strength advantage but he must step out and contest Crawford's shot and recover quickly on him after helping on any penetration.  Crawford is thriving with playing time and how the Hawks are currently playing. Offensively, Boozer has to do what he does best and crash the offensive boards and be strong around the basket.  He is probably going to get some touches in the post and he must make quick, decisive and strong moves in the post going towards the basket.  He should be able to get good position on Crawford and Crawford shouldn't be able to handle Boozer's strength.  It is a contrast in players and styles and Boozer must dictate his style to Crawford.

Jeff McInnis vs. Jason Terry - Jason Terry must feel like the last man standing.  Probably only the particulars of his contract saved Terry from the purging that went on in Atlanta.  But now, Terry is the best player and leading scorer on the Hawks.  At a slightly built 6'1-6'2 Terry is one of the better scoring guards in the NBA in the Bobby Jackson mold.  Many don't consider him a PG but he has played that position with varying degrees of success.  When made the focal point and given the green light against the Cavaliers Terry has just killed them in a fashion reminiscent of former 76ers great Andrew Toney.  Terry has great quickness and good ballhandling ability which allows him to constantly beat his man off the dribble and get his own shot.  Although a streaky shooter, he can get very hot very quickly and hit long jumpers from all over the floor.  Terry, when at his best, plays with a lot of energy and he is another whom the Hawks new style fits very well.  Atlanta in the past has ran Terry off a lot of baseline screens like a SG to free him up and will likely use rookie SG Boris Diaw-Rifford and the newly acquired Bobby Sura along with Jacque Vaughn to move Terry off the ball for stretches in the game.  Defensively, McInnis has to do a much better job of fighting through the screen in pick and roll situations.  Inexplicably, Paul Silas had LeBron James on Bulls PG Kirk Hinrich and the Cavaliers were shredded by the penetration and dish.  McInnis has a tendency to allow himself to be picked too easily and go under the screen.  He has been burned repeatedly by going under the screens and allowing three point shooting PGs to knock down shots.  He must get the proper help on pick and rolls but McInnis must do his part.  Offensively, McInnis has to remain in attack mode.  Terry is among the Hawks leaders in steals but has a reputation as a bad defender.  Other than the lottery bust Joel Przybilla Atlanta does not have a real defensive presence inside and certainly not one as formidable as Theo Ratliff.

When Cleveland has the ball: The Cavaliers have been carried since the All Star break by their top four starters of McInnis, James, Boozer and Ilgauskas and they have been getting next to nothing from anyone else on the roster save the Jason Kapono explosion against New Orleans.  Veteran leader SF Eric Williams is 5-39 is his last 6 games and DaJuan Wagner has been non-existant because of defensive mismatches and his own abysmal individual defense.  Cleveland continues to be hurt when forced to go to the bench and opposing teams continuously zone the Cavaliers as they are incapable of consistently making outside shotsor even have a good outside shooting game as a team.  Expect the undersized Hawks with several bad perimeter defenders to throw the zone against the Cavaliers.  Someone on the team has to step up and consistently be an outside threat and Eric Williams must find a way not be Cedric Henderson and help the team.  The Hawks after making all of their trades have been giving up a ton of points (105ppg) and with the Cavaliers size and rebounding advantage they should look to run and get as many easy baskets as they can and don't let the Hawks set up a zone and pack it in.  Slow trips up the floor the Cavaliers should look to go inside to Boozer and Ilguaskas and control the game that way as well.

When Atlanta has the ball: After trading every resemblance of an inside presence on offense and really having nothing to lose the Hawks have turned into a run and gun, up and down team.  Atlanta now spreads the floor, passes the ball more utilizing a drive and kick game where they are scoring more points (95.5ppg up over 6 points), shooting more three pointers (22.2 per game up 10) and turning the ball over less (15.1 down over 2 a game).  They have plenty of outside shooters in Terry, Stephen Jackson, Crawford and Wesley Person in addition to guys who can break down the defense in Bobby Sura, Terry and Boris Diaw-Rifford.  It is really a hit or miss style.  When the Hawks are hitting shots they can hang with their opponents as evidence by them taking Houston into triple overtime and upsetting the Lakers last night.  When they are not hitting shots they can get blown off the floor because they do not defend well.  Atlanta poses some serious problems due to their style of play.  Penetration and dish play has shredded the Cavaliers all year.  Their two losses to the Bulls were in large part to Chicago doing it all game and they almost lost to a McGrady-less Magic team after Orlando just repeatedly beat Cavaliers perimeter defenders off the dribble and kicking out to shooters that made shots.  Cleveland has to control the point of attack against the Hawks, make them shoot contested outside and then most importantly secure the defense rebounds.  Despite being the best rebounding team in the NBA the Cavaliers regularly get beaten to long rebounds off jumpshots as their perimeter players will just stand around and watch the ball expecting one of the big men to get it.

Game outlook: As the Bulls game exhibited there are no gimmes for the Cavaliers.  They simply aren't good enough to ignore the little things and not come with intensity and a sense of urgency against every opponent.  Atlanta has the same type of players and have a style of play that the Cavaliers have not defended well and has given them fits.  Paul Silas did not have his team prepared for the Bulls and made little or no adjustments other than throwing different player combinations on the floor.  If the Cavaliers do not come out and beat the Hawks at home it will start to put an end to all the playoff talk. 

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