The Cleveland Cavaliers used another big game from LeBron James to steal home court away from the Atlanta Hawks with a narrow Game 1 victory. Can they take a commanding 2-0 series lead, or will the Hawks be able to even the series?
Projected Starting Lineups
(1) Atlanta Hawks (60-22)
G Jeff Teauge – 15.9 ppg, 7.0 apg
G Kyle Korver – 12.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg
F Kent Bazemore – 5.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F Paul Millsap – 16.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg
C Al Horford – 15.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29)
G Kyrie Irving – 21.7 ppg, 5.2 apg
G Iman Shumpert – 8.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg
F LeBron James – 25.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 7.4 apg
F Tristan Thompson – 7.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg
C Timofey Mozgov– 10.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg
What to watch for:
Where will Atlanta get their offense from?
The Hawks used the energy from their home crowd at the beginning of the game to grab a double-digit lead, but Cleveland was able to respond with a run of their own. However, when the Cavs went on a run of their own in the second half, Atlanta wasn’t able to answer and couldn’t get back into the game because of that.
Even though Jeff Teague had a great game, scoring was a constant struggle for Atlanta in the second half. They need to find a way to get easy baskets and get their offense rolling in Game 2 or else they'll fall behind 2-0 in the series.
What will J.R. Smith do for an encore?
Smith gave the Cavs a big spark off the bench with 28 points, and they’ll need him to produce like that every game with their injury issues. Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer did what he could to throw different defenders at Smith, but Smith continually drained tightly contested shots over whoever was guarding him. Expect the Hawks to put someone more athletic on Smith for the remainder of the series.
Prediction: Hawks win 96-92
I don't think Cleveland will have a hard time for much of this series and they'll control most of tonight's game, but I can't see the Hawks losing the first two games at home. They'll somehow find a way to pull this one out in the fourth quarter.
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