The Cleveland Cavaliers took down the Atlanta Hawks in a potential playoff preview. Let’s go over today’s winners and losers.
WINNER – Cross-Matching
The Cavs started this game by throwing a wicked curveball at the Hawks. Rather than matching up by position, Cleveland elected to stick James Harden on Atlanta’s center, Onyeka Okongwu.
What does this do?
Well, it allows Jarrett Allen to bump down and defend Dyson Daniels, a non-shooting threat who the Cavs are willing to ignore on the perimeter. That makes it possible for Allen to patrol
the paint, while Harden just has to use his bulky, 6’5” frame to avoid being dog food.
Okongwu scored 18 points, but wasn’t able to take advantage of Harden defending him. Harden more than held his own in those individual minutes, and Okongwu isn’t a skilled enough scorer to justify the offense catering to him any more than it did tonight.
We’ve seen other teams implement this same strategy. The New York Knicks love to use Josh Hart in this role. Similarly, the Oklahoma City Thunder do the same with Lu Dort or Alex Caruso. Now… it goes without saying that James Harden is nowhere near as good a defender as any of those guys. But the game plan is implemented all the same.
Playing 5-on-4 defensively is a huge advantage. Allen was able to ignore Daniels and contain nearly all drives to the basket. That led to a ton of short-mid-range shots from Atlanta. That’s the type of stuff Cleveland will be glad to concede in the playoffs. It helped make the difference in closing time when the Hawks settled for tough middies.
All that’s left is to make sure you don’t get burned on the perimeter. Outside of a brutal second quarter, I thought the Cavs did a good job of running Atlanta off the line and funneling them to the bigs.
WINNER – Donovan Mitchell
You can trust Donovan Mitchell to show up on the big stage. This wasn’t a playoff game, but it’s clear that Mitchell understood the possible implications.
Mitchell was on fire from the start. He made quick work of the Hawks’ defense, especially when drawing a favorable matchup, like when CJ McCollum or Corey Kispert had the unfortunate fate of defending him. Mitchell’s on-ball brilliance was on full display, with some ridiculously difficult shots appearing routine for him.
We’ve seen heroic performances from Mitchell before. But it’s worth noting that he scored in bunches tonight without ever makign it feel like it was him versus the world. Cleveland still took a balanced approach to their offense, with Mitchell expertly filling in when the time called for it.
By the end of the night, Mitchell had 31 points on 12-19 shooting. That’s elite.
LOSER – One Big Lineups
The Hawks are rolling. And should they draw the Cavs in round one, they’d be a formidable opponent capable of doing serious damage.
Tonight, their biggest advantage came in the second unit.
Atlanta’s bench outscored Cleveland 37-28. Most of that happened in the first half, with the Hawks’ bench shooting 11-13 from the floor while the Cavs shot just 3-10.
Jonathan Kuminga was largely responsible for this disparity. He scored 24 points all on his own, putting the Hawks in front with his huge second quarter. The results were diminishing, as Cleveland’s defensive game plan of leaving non-shooters open and packing the paint eventually won out.
Kuminga is a good barometer for this matchup. The Cavs have tipped their hand and shown that they’ll live with him trying to win games in the mid-range. If he can keep scoring in bunches like he did tonight, then he’ll pose a real problem to Cleveland.
I wouldn’t be overly concerned.
What I would worry about is Cleveland’s defensive integrity when only one big man is on the floor, specifically, when Mobley or Allen are anchoring any lineup that doesn’t also feature Dean Wade. The Cavs’ lack of size was truly exposed in those minutes.
This is where their second unit is most vulnerable. Especially when the Cavs are frequently running lineups of four guards and just one big. I don’t foresee them fixing this issue; rather, it’s a weakness that they simply have to overcome.
WINNER – Double Big Lineups (Plus Dean Wade)
The Cavs bench might be undersized. But let me tell you, the frontcourt featuring Wade, Mobley, and Allen dominated this game.
Atlanta has plenty of length on the wing. Much more than Cleveland. However, wings and one undersized center in Okongwu are all the Hawks have in their frontcourt. That should be BBQ chicken for Mobley and Allen. On Wednesday night, it was exactly that.
Mobley was immediately impactful. He bruised the Hawks in the paint all night, finishing with 22 points and 19 rebounds while no one from Atlanta had enough size to bother him. If Mobley plays with this much aggression — you can expect a quick series for the Hawks.
Allen wasn’t as overbearing. He’s still working through some knee discomfort that will likely linger into the postseason. Yet, Allen posed enough of a threat to earn 11 free throw attempts. Atlanta was forced to foul him multiple times after Allen used his size for deep-seals in the paint. The healthier Allen gets, the more of an issue this will be for the Hawks.
To tie this into our previous section, the only concern is what happens when Allen and Mobley are not on the court together. Cleveland only outscored the Hawks 52-50 in the paint. They also barely edged them out 47-43 in the rebounding category. The bulk of that happened when only one big was on the floor. Again, it’s an uphill battle they’ll just have to fight.
