Hawks vs. Cavaliers: Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 Preview and Prediction
There's no uncertainty surrounding the stakes of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. When the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks square off in Quicken Loans Arena, one team will be playing to advance to the NBA Finals, and the other will be playing just to keep its season alive.
After a 114-111 overtime victory in Game 3, LeBron James and the Cavaliers will look to close out the Hawks at home Tuesday night, to make it back to the Finals for the first time since 2007.
Injuries have played a key role in the series thus far, and that won't be any different in Game 4.
Atlanta has to find a way to make up for injured Kyle Korver's outside shooting presence.
Although Korver hadn't been at his best in the postseason, his presence on the perimeter still attracts attention from defenders, opening up lanes for other options in Atlanta's offense to operate.
Atlanta's offensive flow was clearly thrown off without him in the previous game.
To put the Cavaliers defense on its heels, Jeff Teague will have to continue his aggressive offensive play from the second half of Game 3.
Teague carried the Hawks in the absence of Al Horford, and a similar effort will be necessary in Game 4 for Atlanta.
The Hawks will also need Horford and Paul Millsap to keep Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov from continuing to dominate the rebounding battle. A strong rebounding effort could help Atlanta get out in transition to generate easy offense.
Cavs.com's Joe Gabriele pointed out the impact of the Cavaliers' rebounding:
A knee injury has plagued Hawks small forward DeMarre Carroll, who will have to find a way to keep James from posting the same monster numbers he did in Game 3 for the Hawks to have a chance to avoid elimination.
Despite having a 3-0 series lead, the Cavs have been no stranger to injuries either. Along with Kevin Love's absence, point guard Kyrie Irving has missed the last two games.
According to Yahoo's Marc Spears, Irving will be a game-time decision for Game 4:
James was also banged up for much of Game 3 but will not be held out of Game 4.
The Cleveland star was visibly exhausted after the final buzzer in Game 3 after a herculean triple-double effort. Even for a player as great as LeBron, it would be unreasonable to expect him to duplicate that type of performance.
If Irving is forced to sit out another game, someone else will have to help James shoulder the load if the Cavs want to avoid going back to Atlanta.
J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert have both proved themselves capable of stepping up and being that guy. It's just a matter of if one of them can consistently make plays Tuesday.
Perhaps the biggest determining factor will be the attitude of the Atlanta Hawks to either play with desperation to keep their season alive or roll over in their 3-0 hole and accept defeat.
No team has ever come from down 3-0 to win a series. But if the Hawks could get a win in Cleveland Tuesday, they would have the chance to play Game 5 on their home floor and potentially make the series interesting again.
A win for Cleveland would give it nine days to rest up and get healthy before the start of the Finals on June 4.
The Hawks have played more team basketball than anyone in the league this year. Tuesday night, the Hawks will play their team brand with more urgency than they've had all series.
A last-minute addition of Irving could change everything, but without him, LeBron's exhaustion will prevent him from carrying the Cavs for another 48 minutes.
Atlanta wins in a close one and lives to fight another day.
Final Prediction: Atlanta Hawks 104, Cleveland Cavaliers 101
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