Cleveland Cavaliers-Atlanta Hawks Preview: Injuries, Odds, How to Watch & Starters

A disappointing performance against a previously winless Heat team leaves the Hawks in a frustrating position against the Cavaliers.

Apr 10, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson (20) tries to drive to the basket against Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum (3) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Even though the calendar hasn't even flipped over to November yet, the Atlanta Hawks are in a disappointing rut right now. They've lost three straight games and got outplayed by a Heat team that came into the game winless. Granted, the Heat did have Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the Hawks did not have a way to keep them out of the paint. They allowed Miami to score a whopping 70 of their points in the paint, compared to just 52 for Atlanta.

That's not a very encouraging sign heading into a matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who run a double-big starting lineup with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Cleveland has shown some signs of slippage at times, but they're 3-1 and coming off a comfortable win against the Washington Wizards. This is going to be a very tough game for an Atlanta team that hasn't gotten much out of its frontcourt thus far.

Can the Hawks stop their skid and deliver a quality performance in Cleveland to get themselves back in the win column?

Game Preview

Defending The Double Bigs

Apr 10, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) looses the ball to the defense of Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum (3) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mobley and Allen have struggled to get involved in Cleveland's offense at times this season, but they've been helpful on the boards. The Cavs are 6th in rebounds per game, largely because of their play. Interestingly, the double-big combo for Cleveland hasn't quite been a winning formula thus far as it has in years past.

Over the past three seasons, the Mobley-Allen duo has a net rating of +11 over 1729 minutes. That's an extremely substantive sample size, and they've kept that productivity even without Donovan Mitchell in the game. This season, the bigs have a -22.7 net rating in 56 minutes together. Interestingly, the Cavs are far more productive with Jarrett Allen on the floor (+19.7 net rating) than Mobley (+5.6).

However, that doesn't change the fact that Mobley has been a massive spacing threat this season. He's currently connecting on an absurd 66.7% of his threes and taking 4.5 of them a game. I wonder if this is a matchup where the Hawks would be better served by putting Dyson Daniels on Mobley and allowing him to cut off a significant perimeter threat for Cleveland's offense. He'd be at a size disadvantage, but Dyson's taken on the Giannis assignment in the past and done well.

Jarrett Allen is a complete non-shooter, but he's been excellent as a shot blocker this season. He's averaging a career-high 2.3 blocks per game and a BLK% of 6.9%, which means that the paint isn't going to be any easier for Atlanta to access. It's up to Onyeka Okongwu and Jock Landale to draw Allen out to the perimeter with their range or force him to guard in space.

Speaking of both Okongwu and Landale, they've both struggled mightily to start the season, and tonight is another massive test. One area that I'd like to see Okongwu improve on is his presence on the defensive glass as a possession-ender. He's averaging a career-worst 13.3 DREB%, and that just isn't going to cut it for a starting center. Okongwu isn't the best offensive rebounder, but he's usually been a solid defensive rebounder, and he needs to rediscover that form in a hurry to make life easier for Atlanta's defense.

Landale has also struggled on defense, and his minutes have been especially bad with Jalen Johnson. I think they should explore giving some more run to Asa Newell, as he's been getting to 22.9% of available defensive rebounds in his minutes. The Hawks need that kind of rebounding compared to Landale's 16.5%.

Hunting Harden

Apr 10, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) is guarded by Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

James Harden seems to be playing his way back into shape to start this season, and the numbers back that up. He's averaging a measly 15.8 points on a horrendous 49 TS% while shooting career lows as a starter from the field and the three-point line.

This is the matchup the Hawks need to punish in the game. Harden's a high-turnover player who doesn't really have the burst to get by Atlanta's perimeter defenders. He's not shooting the ball well, so they could even get away with sticking Jalen Johnson on him and letting Johnson complement as a help defender. However, they have several traditional options to defend him with in CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and, of course, Dyson Daniels.

I do think one area where the Hawks need to be very intentional is to keep Kingston Flemings off of Harden as much as possible. Harden is one of the best at drawing fouls through contact, and it'll be important to prevent Flemings from fouling out. He looked amazing against the Heat, dropping 23 points, five assists, and five rebounds on 9-for-12 shooting from the field.

Battle of the Benches

Oct 28, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Miami Heat guard Dru Smith (12) dribbles past Atlanta Hawks guard Kingston Flemings (4) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One area where I'm interested in watching these two teams is their second units. Cleveland hasn't had a great bench since their No. 1 seed year, but the Cavs' bench has the 4th-best plus/minus this season. They also have the sixth-highest TS% and a lot of that has to do with exciting rookie Meleek Thomas.

Thomas has been a fun offensive spark this season and he's averaging 13 points on 58.8% shooting from the field. Atlanta's been able to roster something similar in Aaron Wiggins and it'll be interesting to see which bench sharpshooter has the better performance. Cleveland's also got a solid duo of bench wing options with Mario Hezonja and Jaylen Tyson. Big stints from Flemings, Wiggins and Lu Dort might be necessary to keep pace with Cleveland's depth in this game.

Betting Lines (via FanDuel Sportsbook)

Spread: Cavaliers +1.5 (-118), Hawks -1.5 (-104)

Moneyline: Cavs -106, Hawks -110

Total points scored: 238.5 (over -105, under -115)

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Injury Report

The Hawks are on a back-to-back, so there's no injury report released yet. Cleveland is also on a back-to-back and has yet to release an injury report.

Projected Starters

Hawks

G - CJ McCollum

G - Nickeil Alexander-Walker

G/F - Dyson Daniels

F - Jalen Johnson

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Cavs

G - Donovan Mitchell

G - James Harden

F - Peyton Watson

F - Evan Mobley

C - Jarrett Allen