NBA Game 4 - Hawks at Cavaliers
By Kevin Rogers
The Cavaliers dominated the Hawks in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals at Philips Arena, but returning home for Game 3 wasn’t as easy of a task as the opening two victories. Cleveland found a way to stave off Atlanta, 114-111 in overtime to grab a commanding 3-0 series advantage, but several events in Sunday’s contest changed the tide of the series in the Cavs’ favor.
The top storyline coming out of Game 3 was Al Horford’s controversial ejection in the second quarter, knocking out another Atlanta starter after Kyle Korver was already sidelined with an ankle injury. Horford threw an elbow at Cavaliers’ guard Matthew Dellavedova on a loose ball late in the half, resulting in a Flagrant 2 and automatic ejection. The Atlanta All-Star forward will not miss Game 4 with a suspension, as he finished with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting, ruining a potentially solid night and chance to get back in the series.
Even without Horford, the Hawks rallied from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to seize a 104-100 advantage with 1:38 lead in regulation. Atlanta benefited from the bonus halfway through the quarter, knocking down 9-of-9 free throws in a two-minute span. However, the Cavs outscored the Hawks, 4-0 in the last 90 seconds of regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime.
We didn’t forget about LeBron James’ masterful performance (37 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists), as the Cavaliers’ star scored the final five points in overtime to put the Hawks on the brink of elimination. James attempted a career-high 37 shots, but the Cavs had four other players score in double-figures, as Dellavedova and J.R. Smith each put up 17 points. Cleveland outrebounded Atlanta, 56-42, but David Blatt’s team shot just 41% from the floor, its worst shooting performance in the series.
NBA analyst Chris David was impressed by the Hawks effort and believes that we have a great chance to see another solid performance in Game 4.
“I’m a little reluctant to back teams off bad losses and that Hawks are in that spot Tuesday but they’ve showed some fight in these spots. Including Sunday’s loss, the Hawks have only been in three overtime games this season and they lost all three, two of them in the playoffs. Despite winning the top award, I don’t think Mike Budenholzer is the best coach in the league but his team has responded well off tough beats. The Hawks are 2-0 in the following game off an ATS loss and that includes their Game 5 win over Brooklyn in the second round,” said David.
The ‘under’ easily hit in each of the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the ‘over’ was never in doubt in Game 3. The total in Game 1 closed at 199 ½, then fell to 193 in Game 2, followed by another drop down to 190 ½ in Game 3. Atlanta led Cleveland at halftime, 49-48 in Game 3, as a 60-point third quarter pretty much locked in the first ‘over’ of the series. In each of the first three games of this series, the Hawks scored at least 49 points in the first 24 minutes.
David believes the venue change has helped the Hawks offense and he’s going to ride that in Game 4 again.
He explained, “Including Sunday’s production, Atlanta is now averaging 103 PPG on the road in this year’s playoffs compared to 94.9 PPG at home. For whatever reason, the Hawks play loose away from home and the loss of Korver has opened the door for athletic players in Kent Bazemore and Shelvin Mack, who combined for 27 points the loss. Another big factor in Game 3 for Atlanta was its aggressive style, which earned 32 trips to the free throw line and they connected on 28 of them. With the Hawks facing elimination, I’m going to buy into the sense of urgency and lean to their team total ‘over’ (92 ½) on Tuesday. In seven playoff games, they’ve gone over this number six times and surprisingly the Cavaliers have allowed an average 98.8 PPG at home in six postseason matchups.”
The Cavaliers are looking to become the first Eastern Conference team to pull off a sweep in the conference finals since 2003, when the Nets swept the Pistons. Cleveland is seeking first NBA Finals appearance since 2007, when the Cavs lost in four games to the Spurs, James’ only Finals appearance as a member of the Cleveland franchise.
Kyrie Irving sat out the last two victories for the Cavs with left knee tendinitis and is questionable for Game 4. Cleveland has four shots to win one game, so the obvious question is whether or not to rest Irving, hope for the sweep and give the All-Star guard another week to rest his knee. Dellavedova averaged 14 points a game in his two starts in Game 2 and 3, which has turned into a viable alternative to Irving for the time being.
In spite of a 5-1 SU record at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs have covered only twice as a home favorite, with three of the wins coming by eight points or less. The Hawks are entering their third game in the underdog role this postseason, cashing the first two opportunities, but are looking for consecutive ATS wins for just the second time in the playoffs.
