The Atlanta Hawks' chances for a comeback in their Eastern Conference Finals series with the Cleveland Cavs took a major hit with the news that sharpshooting swingman Kyle Korver will miss the rest of the playoffs with a severely sprained ankle.
Down 2-0 heading back to Ohio, the odds seem stacked against the Hawks -- especially with optimism around Cavs camp that a "questionable" Kyrie Irving is once again close to game shape.
Here's our Game 4 preview & prediction.
Projected Starting Lineups
(All stats based on playoff performance only)
(1) Atlanta Hawks
G Jeff Teague – 15.9 ppg, 7.1 apg
G Kent Bazemore – 4.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg
F DeMarre Carroll – 15.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg
F Paul Millsap – 14.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg
C Al Horford – 15.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers
G Matthew Dellavedova – 5.9 ppg, 2.8 apg
G Iman Shumpert – 10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg
F LeBron James – 27.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 8.0 apg
F Tristan Thompson – 8.8 ppg, 10.0 rpg
C Timofey Mozgov– 8.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg
What to watch for:
Can Atlanta stretch the floor without Korver?
If you take Korver's 2 for 6 night out of the equation in Game 2, the Hawks shot a troubling 4 for 20 (20%) from downtown. Jeff Teague was the only other Atlanta player with multiple triples (2), and the rest of the lineup looked out of rhythm heaving up contested jumpers from the mid-range on out.
Cleveland will collapse in on Atlanta's bigs if someone can't take on some of Korver's load, leaving the Hawks with a muddled mess on offense in the restricted area.
What will LeBron James do for a follow-up?
James put up one of the top-five playoff performances of his career in Game 2, if not for his stat line (30 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds), then for the fact they he carried the Cavs to a dominating road victory without two-thirds of the team's Big 3 (Kevin Love, Irving). James simply made every role player around him look like a superstar on Friday and we don't expect much less upon the team's return to Cleveland.
Prediction: Cavs win 106-94
This could be the quintessential trap game, but the Hawks just don't have enough bullets left in the chamber with Korver out and both Al Horford and DeMarre Carroll hampered by injury. Cavs win this one going away.
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