Cleveland Cavaliers: The Gameplan Against Atlanta

The gameplan for the Cleveland Cavaliers will be one of the more intriguing dynamics of this round against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have figured out how to use their Big 3: (1) Work the ball to Kevin Love in the post early and often, letting him continue to be the ultimate floor-spacer in small-ball lineups by providing three-point ability while remaining a prolific rebounder; (2) Let Kyrie Irving focus on obliterating opponents with his all-around scoring and take over offensively at ends of quarters, or games, or stretches of the game in general; (3) The King, LeBron James, will fill in all the gaps and reign supreme within small-ball lineups. He will score if you get him going downhill, whether that’s from him playing off-the-ball or from him controlling the rock. Even if his jump shot is off, you can count on him to make the right play whether that’s him hitting the open shooter he caused to be open by drawing attention in the lane, dropping it off or throwing it up between defenders to a Cavalier cutting towards the basket, or completing the hockey assist (the assist before the assist), a play he excels at because of a nearly unrivaled basketball IQ.

After watching the Atlanta Hawks struggle to finish off the superstar-less (Isaiah Thomas isn’t a superstar, but is almost an All-Star) Boston Celtics, who were playing most of the series without their second-best player in Avery Bradley, the Cavaliers were surely salivating over the opportunity to play the Hawks who they haven’t lost to all season. Their closest game occurred on an April Fool’s Day’s regular season matchup that required an overtime frame, a game that featured heavy minutes from the recently benched Timofey Mozgov.

Though some would point to the size of Al Horford as a reason to play Mozgov, Horford is lithe and would expose Mozgov who is stiff yet often plays defense standing upright, further handicapping his ability to close out on opponents shooting or driving to the rim. For a similar reason, the Cavaliers will have to play more small-ball than they did in the regular season, Love guarding the much more lithe and springy Paul Millsap for long stretches of the game puts the team at a disadvantage. Despite Love’s defensive strides, “Menace” just isn’t quick enough to play shut-down defense on Millsap who at times seems like the best player on the Hawks, and he’d be more useful bruising up the body of Al Horford. In the same vain, the Cavaliers are better served

For a similar reason, the Cavaliers will have to play more small-ball than they did in the regular season, Love guarding the much more lithe and springy Paul Millsap for long stretches of the game puts the team at a disadvantage. Despite Love’s defensive strides, “Menace” just isn’t quick enough to play shut-down defense on Millsap who at times seems like the best player on the Hawks, and he’d be more useful bruising up the body of Al Horford. In the same vain, the Cavaliers are better served

In the same vain, the Cavaliers are better served letting Dellavedova and Shumpert guard Teague. Coach Lue will have Love playing a lot of minutes at center, LeBron at power forward, and Kyrie at shooting guard so that a lot of the Cavaliers defensive liabilities will be covered. Nevermind that their offense will be nearly unstoppable, because for this particular matchup small-ball works perfectly for the Cavaliers on both sides of the ball.

Leaving the Cavaliers with two great primary defenders to guard each the Hawks three best players (Dellavedova and Shumpert guarding Teague, LeBron and Thompson guarding Millsap, and Frye and Thompson guarding Horford) frees up the Cavs Big 3 to focus on other facets of the game. Coach Lue will get to be creative with his lineups. In stark contrast with small-ball

Coach Lue will get to be creative with his lineups. In stark contrast with small-ball lineups we could see him use lengthy lineups. These lineups would essentially feature three power forwards in Love, Frye, and Thompson because of Frye and Thompson’s defensive versatility, particularly in this round against the average athleticism of the Atlanta Hawks’ forwards.

This is also a strategy that could work down the road against the devastating lineups the Warriors and Spurs use in the frontcourt. Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, and Andre Iguodala, and Tim Duncan, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Kawhi Leonard respectively. The key to these lineups is $80 million man Tristan “TT” Thompson, who will have to be able to guard Iguodala and Leonard well enough to allow LeBron, mainly, and Kyrie to focus their matchups against Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, and Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker.

Basically, by locking down the opposing teams frontcourts with length and defensive versatility while keeping them honest because of Love and Frye’s status as two of the best three-point shooting forwards in the NBA, the Cavaliers would lead their two best perimeter players into head to head match ups against the other teams two best perimeter players. Against the Spurs, that particular matchup easily favors the Cavaliers. Against the Warriors, LeBron would “simply” have to dominate Thompson on both ends of the court while Curry and Irving have a battle for the ages.

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My view, the Cavaliers end up hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Gameplan and visions of the Larry O’Brien trophy aside, the game is played between the lines and not on paper. In this round, be prepared for LeBron to be his usual elite self, and to have multiple triple-doubles this round in addition to stellar defense and floor leadership.

Be prepared for well-rounded offensive games from Irving and Love, and the somehow overlooked J.R. Smith, as well.

Be prepared for significant defensive contributions from the bench.

Hawks fans, be prepared to be a Witness.

What do you think the Cavaliers gameplan against the Hawks will be?