Fans in Cleveland and Atlanta watched Friday night’s play-in game, between the Cavaliers and the Hawks, with a range of emotions. Cleveland controlled this one for large portions throughout, but a masterful second-half by the Atlanta Hawks, was enough to get the victory on the road, 107-101. Atlanta eliminated Cleveland from playoff contention to stamp their ticket to the NBA Playoffs and now have a first-round date with the top-seeded, Miami Heat.
This game was a microcosm for Atlanta fans on how the season went. The first half, and first two quarters, seemed very reminiscent of how the season started for Atlanta. They had some spurts here and there, but for the most part, the team played with a lack of energy and trailed by 10 at the half.
Much like the Hawks season, trying to tie this ball game up was similar to the struggle it was to get back to a .500 record. The third period started with both teams going back-and-fourth but finally ended up in a deadlock at 84-all. The fourth quarter was synonymous with how Atlanta finished up the season, a lethal brand of Hawks basketball, which everyone saw last year on the run to the Eastern Conference finals.
Atlanta outscored Cleveland 56-40 in the second-half. The Hawks seemed dead in the water at points in this game, that is until the best player on the court showed why he was the best player on the court, and that player was none other than Trae Young.
Young only had 6 points in the first-half as he was hardly effective against the seven-foot tree’s of the Cleveland defense: Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Lauri Markannen. Who knows what was said to Young in the locker room at half-time, but ‘Ice Trae’ made the necessary adjustments.
Young finished with 16 points in the third quarter alone, as he started to percolate. It was Pandora’s box for the Cavaliers defense, because once the offensive genius of Young was unleashed full force, they had zero answers on how to stop him. Young was abusing pick-and-roll’s and exploiting defensive match-up’s the entire second-half. He added another 16 points in the fourth quarter and paced his team to a hard-earned win. Young finished with 38 points on the night, while dishing out 9 assists.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Young scored or assisted on 43 of Atlanta’s 56 second-half points. The Cleveland Cavaliers only scored 40 points as a team in that period. For the third straight game, Atlanta had six players finish in double-digit scoring.
Bogdan Bogdanovic was stellar again, finishing with 19 points off the bench. Because of his play early, it help keep the Hawks in this ball game, as Young struggled.
The unsung hero for Atlanta was back-up, veteran point guard, Delon Wright. He only finished with 2 points and 6 rebounds, but his on-ball and perimeter defense in the second-half, absolutely changed the complexion of this game.
The Hawks put an end to a surprising season from the young-Cavaliers. Cleveland was at one point the second seed in the Eastern Conference this season, but fell in the standings after losing starting center, Jarrett Allen, to a finger injury. Allen was available for Friday’s game and had some impact players, but it was to be assumed he would be limited, coming off injury and having not played in weeks. He finished with 11 points and 3 rebounds in 36 minutes of action. The Cavaliers had five players in double-figures scoring, but did not get much help from their bench unit.
In some unfortunate news, Hawks center, Clint Capela, left Friday’s game with a hyperextended knee. Capela fouled Mobley on a lay-up attempt, and to no fault of anyone, Mobley’s momentum fell into Capela’s knee causing the injury. Capela was immediately ruled out for the remainder of the game and there is no news yet on his availability for the Miami series. As of now, it is safe to assume Onyeka Okongwu will take over while ‘CC’ is out.
The tough task of winning back-to-back play-in games has been accomplished. Atlanta now enters the playoff picture as an eight-seed and will play their first two games on the road down in South Beach. Miami is a familiar opponent and a Southeast divisional rival. Expect this to be a chippy and competitive series.
HawksFanTV will have a full preview for Hawks vs. Heat, keep a look out for that.
