5 Keys for Cleveland Cavaliers to Close out Series with Atlanta Hawks
Following a thrilling 114-111 Game 3 overtime win, the Cleveland Cavaliers are now just one victory away from sweeping the Atlanta Hawks and advancing to the NBA Finals.
LeBron James has been brilliant in the series, contributing even more in place of injured star teammates Kyrie Irving (knee tendinitis) and Kevin Love (shoulder surgery). Irving has played just three quarters against Atlanta, while Love won't see the court again until the fall.
Role players have come through everywhere for Cleveland, with Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson all playing at a high level.
Even sitting at 3-0, the Cavaliers can't let up. They need an extended break to rest before an inevitable matchup with the Golden State Warriors, who lead the Houston Rockets 3-0 in their own lopsided series.
Cleveland needs to take care of business in Game 4 before it can worry about Golden State, of course. Against a Hawks team that showed new life in Game 3, the Cavaliers will have to nail the following five steps in order to send Atlanta home for good.
Control the Glass
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The Cavaliers haven't beaten the Hawks in fast-break points every game. Nor have they outshot them from the field or three-point line every single night.
The only real consistent factor has been on the glass.
Cleveland has grabbed more rebounds than Atlanta in all three games this series. This has certainly been a theme for the Cavaliers, as the winner of all six games in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Chicago Bulls was the team that pulled down the most boards.
The Cavs aren't just edging these birds, either.
Cleveland has out-rebounded Atlanta by a total margin of 152 to 118. The Cavs were plus-12 in Game 1, plus-eight in Game 2 and a whopping plus-14 in their most recent victory.
Mind you, this has all been without their regular-season rebound leader in Love.
In his absence, five players have collected six or more boards a game, led by James' 11.7.
Keep on Hustlin'
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The Cavaliers' toughness and hustle are two major reasons they continue to win without Irving and Love.
Such attributes should be met with admiration and replication, not finger-pointing and inaccurate accusations.
Unfortunately, this has been the case as of late with Cleveland's ultimate hustler, Dellavedova. After being pulled to the ground by Hawks center Al Horford and then tripping on forward DeMarre Carroll in Game 3, Dellavedova made what Horford felt was intentional contact with his knee. As retaliation, Horford pulled a WWE-style body slam that earned him a flagrant-2 foul and ejection from the game.
“I was boxing him out and you can see from the baseline view that he’s pulling my left arm down,” Dellavedova said, via Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
The previous game, Hawks guard Kyle Korver was hurt when Dellavedova dove for a loose ball, making contact with his ankles. There was absolutely no mention during the broadcast of this being a "dirty play," as it appeared to be incidental contact. Had Korver showed the same hustle as Dellavedova and dove for the ball himself, his injury never would have even occurred.
To be fair, the Cavs had had their share of dirty plays this postseason. Kendrick Perkins shoving Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder was over the line. Smith smacking him in the face (which earned a two-game suspension) was completely uncalled for.
These are totally different situations, however.
While those two instances were intentional retaliations for Love's previous injury, nothing Dellavedova is doing now should even remotely be considered as anything more than hustling.
Anyone who watched the Cavaliers before this series knows as well.
LeBron Staying Aggressive
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This may be a bit like telling a hungry lion to keep feasting on an antelope carcass, but it's important that James stays aggressive even up 3-0 and dealing with multiple injuries.
After the Cavaliers dropped Game 1 against the Bulls, James changed his mindset, per Tom Withers of the Associated Press.
"I've never went into a game saying, "OK I'm going to be ultra-aggressive." I've always had to feel out things, but last night it was a little bit too much feel out. I only had two shots at one point. I was just not as aggressive offensively as I was defensively. We'll see. I think I may have to change my mindset a little bit with Kev being out.
"
It's safe to say that whatever James did to his mind could be bottled and sold to psychology labs across the United States. Cleveland has since gone 7-1 after James' switch to aggressive mode, with the lone loss coming via a Derrick Rose buzzer-beating bank shot.
His stat line against the Hawks is remarkable. In three games, James is putting up 32.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 10.0 assists. He has two double-doubles and a triple-double already, passing Jason Kidd for second place on the NBA's all-time postseason triple-double list (via TNT game broadcast).
While James has struggled from mid-range (22.2 percent) and the three-point line (21.4 percent), he's once again been fantastic when attacking the paint (61.1 percent within five feet) this series.
As Jon Schuhmann of NBA.com reports, James' 16 field-goal attempts from the restricted area in Game 3 were his most ever and the highest amount in the league since March 2013.
Using his speed and strength to drive the lane has always been the best part of James' offensive game, and it is something he needs to continue to pursue when closing out the Hawks.
Return to Elite Defense
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The Hawks scored 111 points in Game 3 and had 104 at the end of regulation. This was a far cry from the first two contests, where Atlanta finished with 89 and 82 points, respectively.
This recent output was a sharp change from the Cavaliers' usually stingy postseason defense.
Led by Shumpert on the perimeter, the Cavs also used Dellavedova, James and Smith for their tough covers. All have been extremely active one-on-one, playing the passing lanes and collecting steals.
In the paint, Timofey Mozgov and Thompson have controlled the glass, helped deny penetration to the rim and limited the Hawks' big men.
All of this effort has equaled some outstanding playoff numbers.
Cleveland is second among all postseason teams in points allowed (92.9), field-goal percentage (41.1 percent), three-point percentage (29.5) and assists (18.7), and first in rebounds allowed (40.5).
Following a questionable Game 3, the Cavaliers need to tighten some areas and do a better job contesting shots, a feature that's almost entirely based on effort.
More Mozgov, Please
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Nothing against Thompson, who's been fantastic, but the Cavaliers need to get Mozgov in the game far more often than they currently do.
The 7'1" center is seeing the court just 23.8 minutes a night, the second-fewest amount of all eight rotation players.
While he struggled offensively against the Bulls, Mozgov has put up a solid 9.7 points on 57.1 percent shooting from the field in the Eastern Conference Finals.
He's still rebounding at a good clip (7.7) and playing exceptional defense. In three games against Atlanta, Hawks players are shooting a measly 33.3 percent from less than 10 feet with Mozgov as the primary defender. That's a drop of 26.5 percent, or nearly half off their usual average.
Cleveland also has a huge size advantage with Mozgov in the game. He has a good three inches on Horford and five on power forward Paul Millsap.
Putting Mozgov on the court means a load of offensive adjustments for the opposing team and plenty of lob opportunities for the Cavaliers.
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA for Bleacher Report since 2010. All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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