Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game 4 Grades and Analysis
The Atlanta Hawks steamed mightily through the season, and then they hit a wall called the Cleveland Cavaliers. Following an overtime loss in Game 3, the Hawks barely put up a fight in Tuesday's Game 4 as LeBron James led the Cavs to a 118-88 victory, a series sweep and a trip to the NBA Finals.
The Cavaliers opened a 12-point lead after 12 minutes of play, and they never looked back. They led by 25 after three quarters, and it was painfully clear that the Hawks had run out of their Spursesque magic.
The Cavs hit 49 percent of their shots and 42 percent of their three-pointers, putting on a clinic for the home fans and shooting the same percentage from long range as the Hawks did on all of their shots. The Cavs emptied the bench with just over five minutes remaining, bringing giddy ovations from the crowd with the NBA Finals in sight.
It's an unfortunate end to a stellar season for the Hawks, and they will return to the drawing board to tinker for a potential title run next year.
| LeBron James | A |
| Kyrie Irving | A- |
| Tristan Thompson | A- |
| Timofey Mozgov | B+ |
| Iman Shumpert | B- |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Jeff Teague | B |
| Al Horford | D |
| Paul Millsap | B |
| DeMarre Carroll | C |
| Kent Bazemore | B- |
| Rest of Team | C |
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James, Small Forward
LeBron led all scorers with 23 points and finished three assists and one rebound away from a triple-double. He added a couple of steals and a block on defense, and the team required his presence for only 29 minutes in the rout. The only sneeze at his performance came at the free-throw line, where he missed three of his four attempts.
This marks LeBron's fifth consecutive season as a champion of the Eastern Conference. His stated mission was to bring a title to Cleveland, and he now has his team and his city just four wins away from the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. And unlike the trip eight years ago, when the San Antonio Spurs swept LeBron's Cavs, fans must be feeling supremely confident after this convincing sweep of the top-seeded team.
Grade: A
Kyrie Irving, Point Guard
Kyrie Irving sat out Games 2 and 3 due to foot and knee injuries; the Cavs won anyway. When the team announced he would start Game 4, with Cleveland leading 3-0 in the series, some analysts questioned the decision:
Though he was not playing on a minutes restriction, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, the TNT announcers observed that the Cavs deployed him for shorter stretches on the court. Sideline reporter Rachel Nichols noted that Irving had been guzzling plenty of water to stay hydrated and ward off cramps. After all, Irving has dealt with a litany of ailments during his young career.
And yet none of that seemed to matter. Irving scored 16 points, 11 in the first half, on a tidy 6-of-11 shooting. In just 22 minutes, he handed out five assists, as many as the high man on the Hawks. He connected on two of his three tries from downtown, and for good measure, he added a steal and a block.
It was an efficient, effective performance for Irving, and most importantly, he didn't appear to aggravate or exacerbate his injuries. Now he gets more than a week to recuperate and prepare for the next opponent.
Grade: A-
Tristan Thompson, Power Forward
When the Cavaliers traded for Kevin Love, they thought they were bringing a new top rebounder to the team. As it turns out, Tristan Thompson, the backup power forward, appears to be their most impactful presence on the glass. He added a crucial offensive rebound that turned into the deciding points in the Cavs' Game 3 victory, and he's filled in brilliantly for Love (shoulder) throughout the postseason.
With a berth in the championship round on the line, Thompson came through with another dominant performance and a timely double-double to complete the sweep. His 16 points matched Paul Millsap's scoring total, though Thompson needed only eight field-goal attempts to do it, compared to 13 for the Hawks All-Star.
Thompson also snagged a game-high 11 rebounds, with five of them coming on the offensive glass. As a team, the Hawks managed only seven offensive rebounds.
It's no wonder, then, that LeBron James told ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin the following: "Tristan should probably be a Cavalier for his whole career. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t." With restricted free agency looming, the 24-year-old's stock is rising precipitously.
Grade: A-
Timofey Mozgov, Center
Thompson's emergence has somewhat overshadowed the continued value of Timofey Mozgov in the middle, and he quietly contributed another strong effort.
He scored 14 points and made five of his nine shots, adding seven boards and three blocks. All Hawks players combined to block three shots.
Looking back, the trade for Mozgov in early January seems like the start of the turnaround for the Cavs—when they went from a pretty good team to a dangerous title contender.
Grade: B+
Iman Shumpert, Shooting Guard
The Cavs didn't acquire Iman Shumpert for his shooting, so when the talented wing defender does have his shot falling, it's gravy. However, Shumpert struggled from the field in the win in a manner reminiscent of his inconsistency with the New York Knicks.
Shumpert managed only three points and missed seven of his eight shots in 36 minutes. But it's OK, because he finished with a game-high plus-27 rating. Shumpert secured eight rebounds and blocked a shot, but his four assists are indicative of his larger contribution on offense beyond the missed shots.
Grade: B-
Rest of Team
J.R. Smith came off the bench to score 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting while also ripping down 10 rebounds. After hitting eight treys in Game 1, he hit eight combined in the following three games, with four of them coming Tuesday.
Matthew Dellavedova bears the blame laid by many Hawks fans for Kyle Korver's ankle injury. He doesn't seem too worried about it. After making his first two shots of the game, he finished with 10 points in another pesky effort.
James Jones scored five points on five shots, and he yielded to the end-of-benchers down the stretch.
Grade: B
Atlanta Hawks
Jeff Teague, Point Guard
Jeff Teague did what he could as a scorer, and he was efficient (8-of-13 shooting) in getting a team-high 17 points, but his lack of assists and his team's poor shooting (42 percent) are symptomatic of the Hawks' sudden collapse.
Teague managed only one assist while losing three of the team's eight turnovers. The Hawks recorded 22 assists on 36 field goals, and the offense could not find the effective ball movement that made it so potent this season.
Grade: B
Al Horford, Center
Al Horford receded into the offseason with a disappointing disappearance in Game 4. He scored two points and made one of his six shots while managing only two rebounds in 29 minutes.
He did tie Millsap for a team-high five assists, but the Hawks' reliable big man seemed to have run out of gas. He's battled through a number of minor injuries, including a dislocated finger earlier in the playoffs, and he lacked punch in this elimination game.
Grade: D
Paul Millsap, Power Forward
Though he recorded a double-double, it will be little consolation for Paul Millsap after this sweep. He tallied a creditable line, with 16 points and 10 rebounds while adding five dimes, but having to contend at times with LeBron muted Millsap's effectiveness.
With DeMarre Carroll banged up, Millsap found himself guarding LeBron more often, and while Millsap should be commended for a "good job" and "good effort," defense is not his forte—and he was outclassed by both James and Thompson.
Grade: B
DeMarre Carroll, Small Forward
Carroll came up with seven points from his nine shots, and he couldn't find his stroke from three-point range, missing four out of five attempts. That was typical of his team's struggles from deep, as it hit only five of 32 attempts.
Hawks starters combined to miss 16 of their 18 three-point attempts. While Korver's presence hardly would have changed the outcome in this lopsided game, it's an area where the Hawks need his presence for the offense to function properly.
Carroll also chipped in eight boards, a steal and a block. He's another player with free agency coming up, so the Hawks have a difficult decision to make after he put together a breakout season at the age of 28.
Grade: C
Kent Bazemore, Shooting Guard
With Korver lost for the series, Kent Bazemore blazed into the starting lineup with his mix of athleticism and enthusiasm. He missed all four shots from downtown, but he made four out of his seven tries from inside the arc.
Bazemore accounted for six of the Hawks' 18 free-throw attempts—compared to 30 for Cleveland—and managed to notch 12 points and eight rebounds in his 35 minutes.
Grade: B-
Rest of Team
Shelvin Mack scored 10 points and pilfered a team-high two steals in his 24 minutes off the bench. However, he missed four of his five attempts from three-point range, just like Carroll and Teague did.
Mike Scott missed all four of his three-point attempts and made his only other shot.
Dennis Schroder logged just seven minutes and scored zero points through the first three quarters while the game was within reach. After his team was down by 25, he recorded four points and four assists.
John Jenkins and Mike Muscala threw a bench party in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 and eight points, respectively.
Grade: C
What's Next?
The NBA Finals begin June 4, meaning the Cavs will have eight days to rest up before facing the Western Conference champs.
The Golden State Warriors will try to close out the Houston Rockets in Game 5, which tips off at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday. ESPN carries the coverage as the Rockets seek to become the first team in NBA postseason history to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a series.
