Backdoor Cut: Observations from Atlanta Hawks/Cleveland Cavs playoff contest 5/22/15

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Observations from Atlanta’s 94-82 home loss to the Cleveland Cavs in game two of the Eastern Conference finals on May 22.

–LeBron James scored a game-high 30 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed nine rebounds in the win. It’s the eighth double-double of this postseason and the 68th of his playoff career. James also tallied his sixth 30-plus point outing of this postseason and 74th of his playoff career.

-Overall, the Cavs shot 43.4 percent from the field and made 12 three-pointers. Cleveland also outrebounded Atlanta 47-32. Iman Shumpert (16 points), Matthew Dellavedova (11 points) and Timofey Mozgov (10 points) also scored in double-figures. Tristan Thompson grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.

-Atlanta’s offensive struggles continued, shooting only 41.8 percent from the field. The Hawks made only six out of 26 three-pointer attempts. Dennis Schroder had a team-high 13 points off the bench. Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver and Al Horford each had 12 points.

-Hawks started the game 2-10 from the field for 20% and trailed 11-5 midway through the first quarter. The Hawks started defending James straight up with an injured DeMarre Carroll and he proceeded to score seven of the Cavs first 11 points. Atlanta never recovered from James’ strong offensive start.

-Atlanta responded with a 10-4 run to ge thte score tied at 15-15 with 2:55 left in the first quater. Carroll was replaced by Kent Bazemore and the Hawks’ player rotation was normal. Mike Scott checked into his first game since game three of the Washington series.

-Carroll came into the game as the Hawks’ leading scorer in the playoffs and played a team-high 33:47 minutes in the loss but scored only six points.

-Cleveland led 26-21 at the end of the first quarter with James scoring a game-high 13 points. Thompson also grabbed eight rebounds in the first quarter for Cavs. Cleveland also shot 50 percent from the field while Atlanta was at 38 percent.

-Starting lineup checked back in for Atlanta down 35-27 with nine minutes left in first half.

-The teams traded baskets with Cleveland leading 48-40 with 2:07 left in the first half. James repeatedly posted up Carroll on isolations and passed to open shooters on the perimeter.

-Cleveland led Atlanta 54-49 at halftime. James had a game-high 17 first-half points for Cleveland which shot 53 percent from the field and made seven out of 11 three-pointers. The Cavs also outrebounded the Hawks 22-16 in the first half.

-Atlanta shot 49 percent from the field in the first half and were led by Korver’s 12 points while Teague had 10. The Hawks continued their struggles from the three-point line, making only four of 11 attempts.

-Cleveland starts the second half on a 21-7 run and led Atlanta 75-56 with 4:27 left in the third quarter. The Cavs outscored the Hawks 30-17 in the third quarter and took an 84-66 lead into the fourth.

-Atlanta actually outscored Cleveland 16-10 in the fourth quarter.