Midway through the Cavs’ disgustingly fun-to-watch 4th quarter ambush of the Hawks’ offense, I couldn’t help but think that I’d seen this movie before.
If you didn’t catch the game itself, the Cavs entered the fourth quarter with a one-point lead. They then proceeded to literally shut out Atlanta for the next 8:48 of game time. This span included three missed free throws by the Hawks, which I am completely comfortable with attributing to the Cavs’ mental domination of the game.
The sports media’s company line on Atlanta this season has been that they’ve “taken the next step” and are now ready to become an elite team in the East. Prior to tonight, their record seems to have backed that statement up. The Hawks entered the game at 21-8, with a (supposed) “statement” win over the Celtics in their own leprechaun hole last month.
The source of Atlanta’s improvement is supposedly their upgraded bench, thanks primarily to the offseason acquisitions of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith. There was also probably some garbage being spewed about the “development” of Marvin Williams and Al Horford, but I haven’t really been paying attention to the bullet points because I’ve been suspect of this story line from the beginning. (In my book, universal agreement that your team is still starting a PF at C is usually a pretty serious red flag.)
Tonight’s game proved to be a rude awakening for not only Hawks fans, but more importantly, their players and coaching staff. After three highly competitive quarters, the Cavs crushed the Hawks in the fourth quarter in their own gym, where they’d previously been 12-2. They did it by suffocating the Hawks’ offense — especially Joe Johnson, who ended the game 5-14 for 15 points in almost 43 minutes of action. This is a particularly impressive stat when you consider that Johnson made his first 4 shots and ended the opening quarter with 11 points.
I had the pleasure of watching the game on NBA TV, where Craig Sager reported from the sidelines that the Cavs’ players went to Mike Brown after Johnson hit those first four shots and pleaded with him to allow them to start blitzing Johnson to get the ball out of his hands and make him as uncomfortable as possible. I’d say the strategy worked pretty well. He missed his next 6 shots from the field and scored only 2 in the deciding quarter.
What should be particularly scary to Atlanta (and potentially the rest of the league) is that, in some major respects, the Cavs didn’t even play that well in this game. 18 TOs. Uncharacteristically poor 3-point shooting (29.4% on 5-17). Lebron with one of his worst offensive games of the season (14 points on a Ray Deidrick-like 6-20 from the floor). Yet the Cavs win on the road by 11.
Delonte is getting all the supporting cast pub. He deserves a lot of it, because he played an excellent game. But five Cavs other than Lebron scored in double figures tonight. The team dominated in the paint. And the defensive performance was downright exhilarating. All in all, it was a stellar team effort to strongly suggest that the pecking order in the East isn’t any different than it was a year ago.
With Wednesday’s rematch at the Q, the Cavs are in a unique position to bury the entire perception of Atlanta as a new contender. They’ve already dealt the Hawks a serious direct hit. A blow-out win at the Q will spur every sports pundit to start talking about how Atlanta hasn’t really fixed any of the weaknesses that led to their demise last season (which is true) and could convince the Hawks themselves of the same. I guarantee that they’ll be thinking about it on the plane tonight.
There’s blood in the water. Let’s see if the Cavs recognize it and exert the will to destroy.
-T
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