3 Questions Entering Hawks-Cavaliers Play-In Game Friday Night
The NBA Play-In Tournament is coming to an end and for the Eastern Conference, the final 8-seed game will take place between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland on Friday night.
Following their appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago, the Atlanta Hawks find themselves in the Play-In Tournament and looking to pick up one more win to get back to the playoffs for the second straight season.
Trae Young has been one of the best offensive players in the league all season long, but he alone will not be able to lift the Hawks past one of the better defensive teams in the league in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With John Collins still sidelined, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari will have to continue to step up as the experienced veterans on this team.
As for the Cleveland Cavaliers, they have had to face adversity all season long, yet the Cavs have overcome every single challenge they have faced.
Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen have emerged as two young first-time All-Stars for this team and while Collin Sexton went down early in the year with a season-ending knee injury, they are just one win away from reaching the playoffs.
Will Cleveland take advantage of playing this 8-seed game on their home court and advance to the playoffs or will Atlanta use their experience to their advantage?
Let’s take a look at some key questions heading into this game between the Hawks and Cavaliers on Friday night.
Can the Cavaliers Keep the Hawks Off The Glass?
Jarrett Allen’s finger injury is definitely concerning for the Cleveland Cavaliers and while he is listed as questionable for Friday night's game, he has not played since early on in March and should he play, Allen will be limited.
As a result, Atlanta automatically has the edge on the interior with Clint Capela, one of the best rebounding big men in the league.
During their four-game season series, the Cavaliers outrebounded the Cavaliers by a slim 186-181 margin and the rebounding numbers for both teams have been almost identical.
The Hawks are going to get their fair share of rebounds in this game and will enter with the advantage should Jarrett Allen be out, but what the Cavaliers need to do is limit Atlanta’s second-chance opportunities.
On Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets, the Hawks had 12 total offensive rebounds and against the Cavaliers this season, Atlanta has averaged 12.5 offensive rebounds per game.
Limiting their ability to crash the offensive glass is going to be essential for the Cavaliers, especially since they are giving up size with Jarrett Allen being limited or sidelined in this game.
With John Collins being out on Atlanta’s side of things, Cleveland will need rookie Evan Mobley to obviously step up on the interior, but Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love will also need to give their all going for defensive rebounds.
This game could very much come down to which team gathers more total rebounds.
Will Cleveland Make Adjustments to Contain Trae Young?
In four games against the Cavaliers this season, Trae Young has averaged 32.5 points, 9.0 assists and has shot 46.1% from the floor, 41.2% from three-point range.
Cleveland is a strong defensive team, but they have had no answers for Young all year long.
Something is going to have to change on Friday night for the Cavaliers and finding ways to get the ball out of Young’s hands is a "must" if they are to try and win this game.
How they will devise a game plan to stop, or at least contain, Trae Young will be key for the Cavaliers to answer and the first-half of this game will be very telling as to if they can accomplish this.
The Hawks are a strong offensive team and even if Trae Young is not knocking down shots, they have plenty of capable shooters and scorers around him, hence why Young led the league in total assists this year.
Him passing is one thing, but the Cavaliers need to try and limit his ability to attack the paint and draw unnecessary fouls.
If Cleveland enters this game on Friday looking to do the same things they did against the Hawks earlier in the regular season, Trae Young will have his way and lead the Hawks to the playoffs once again.
Will Caris LeVert Step Up in a “Must-Win” Game?
Darius Garland will obviously need to have a good game for the Cavaliers to beat the Hawks, as will Evan Mobley on the interior, but all eyes in this matchup should be on Caris LeVert and his ability to be a threat out on the perimeter next to Garland.
In 19 regular season games with the Cavaliers after being traded at the trade deadline, LeVert averaged 13.6 points, 3.9 assists and shot 43.5% from the floor.
While he has been shooting better as of late, we have still yet to see Caris LeVert put together more than one big scoring night, as he went for 32 points on March 30 against the Dallas Mavericks.
Getting production on offense from LeVert will be huge in this game against Atlanta, especially since the Hawks have scored at least 130 points in back-to-back games now.
Cleveland’s defense is great, but they are going to need a boost from their offense to get past the Hawks. Darius Garland and Evan Mobley can only do so much, which is why Caris LeVert needs to be the guy to step up and help save the Cavaliers’ season.
If he fails to score 18 points or more, it is hard to see the Cavaliers coming away with a victory on Friday night.
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