Game thread: Hawks shake it up with bigger lineup (updated)
Vivlamore reporting from Cleveland.
The Hawks will start a bigger lineup tonight versus the Cavaliers – in part because of matchups and in part to shake up a struggling team that has lost three straight and four of five games.
The Hawks will start Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.
“We want to shake it up a little bit and see if it will jump start us,” coach Larry Drew said.
Drew said the biggest reason was the matchup at shooting guard. The Cavaliers are starting 6-foot-6, 222-pound C.J. Miles at the 2-guard and he is too big for one of the smaller Hawks guards like Lou Williams or Devin Harris.
(UPDATE: C.J. Miles (back strain) and Daniel Gibson (concussion) are out.)
* Harris has been medically cleared to play and you can expect to see him get limited minutes after he has missed the past 11 game with a sore left foot.
* Anthony Morrow will miss his seventh straight game. He missed five games with a right hip strain and now two games with a stiff back.
* DeShawn Stevenson is doubtful after he played 5:17 in Tuesday’s loss to the Timberwolves. Stevenson has not scored in 2013 in limited action as the team continues to be careful with his aging knees.
“He is good,” Drew said. “We said it from the very beginning that it’s going to be important that we try to keep him healthy. We don’t want to put too much wear and tear on his knees. We’ll see how he is doing the first night of a back-to-back and if we get medical clearance from the doctors that we can play him a little bit the first night and a little bit the second night we’ll do that. But we’ll wait until we get clearance from the doctors.”
* Ivan Johnson continues to be used sparingly this season. He has played a total of 28 minutes the past five games, including a DNP in the loss to the T’Wolves.
I asked Drew what it would take for Johnson to get more playing time, especially when at times this season the coach has said the Hawks have lacked a physical presence.
“I’m always looking at matchups,” Drew said. “I’m looking at the rhythm of the game. I’m looking at who I feel that can probably serve us best in a certain position. Certainly (Johnson) brings a physicality to the lineup and in this situation he just has to stay ready. He has to stay ready that if his number is called he’s ready to respond.”
* I asked Drew how the team responded to his comments following Tuesday’s loss that the team played “soft” in the first half against the T’Wolves.
“We had a breakfast meeting today and watch some clips from last night’s game,” Drew said. “Hopefully it will sink in. After they’ve seen the clips that I pulled, I think they were in agreement that we just came out way too soft, way too tentative, low energy. Everybody was in total agreement. There was a clear contrast between the first half and the second half. You can’t spot teams like that on the road. You have to exert too much energy to get back into it. We did not get off to a good start. That second half we played with more energy, more sense of urgency. Hopefully we’ll get off to a good start.”
* Josh Smith will be an on-set guest of NBA TV’s NBA Game Time Thursday night at 7 p.m. Smith will join host Vince Cellini and analysts Dennis Scott and Michael Redd.
* The Cavaliers lost the NBA’s leading rebounder Anderson Varejao for 6-8 weeks after the center underwent knee surgery Wednesday.
- Chris Vivlamore
LATEST NEWS
* Morrow out vs. T’Wolves with back stiffness
* Stevenson weighs in on back-to-backs situation
* Stevenson needs medical clearance to play back-t0-back
* Hawks wary of Pistons’ bench
* Williams to remain in starting lineup
* Behind the scenes photo gallery
* Drew named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month
* Drew looking for more minutes for Jenkins
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381 comments Add your comment
Melvin
January 9th, 2013
8:33 pm
Why is Lou playing PG when you have Teague and Devin available.
Rod from College Park
January 9th, 2013
8:34 pm
“5 blocks and you’re losing to a lottery bound team. Yeah, blocks mean a lot.”
Yeah they mean intead of being down 21 your down 11
terrell
January 9th, 2013
8:34 pm
Go Falcons.
High-sider
January 9th, 2013
8:34 pm
@Big Ray
“The Gods must be crazy.” – Big Ray
I remember that movie. It was about a pygmy and an empty glass bottle – right? Or something like that? Check out the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-WJtGC8dI&wide=1
Mookie Blaylock
January 9th, 2013
8:35 pm
struggling to keep the game “within reach” of the Cavs….with 2 “All-Stars” Horford and Josh.
Slimjr
January 9th, 2013
8:35 pm
Can somebody stop Irving?
NO
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
8:35 pm
“Blocks are only important if they end an offensive possession. Otherwise, they are basically a pass deflection that disrupts but does not affect a possession.”
That applies equally to a good defensive possession that ends in an offensive rebound for the other team. Doesn’t mean defense isn’t important. Blocking and altering shots matters just as much on D as being able to create shots matters on O. It’s how you erase mistakes in team execution.
Slimjr
January 9th, 2013
8:35 pm
Irving is GOOD Nique?
No try great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
terrell
January 9th, 2013
8:35 pm
Rod, how do you know they wouldve made those 5 shots that were blocked? lmao
J.J.M.
January 9th, 2013
8:36 pm
Time to turn
Big Ray
January 9th, 2013
8:36 pm
AJ ,
Here’s the bad part – those blocks? They’re all the defense we seem to be getting tonight.
Defensive rebounds would be a good indicator of defense. I look at the stat box and there is KYLE KORVER with 6 rebounds, all defensive. And then there’s Miss Horford with 3 rebounds…2 of them defensive.
I think that tells a bit of a story tonight.
Tristan Thompson is kicking his arse.
Slimjr
January 9th, 2013
8:36 pm
Irving with 31 pts. through 3 qtrs…..Shoot…
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
8:36 pm
Hawks 23, Kyrie Irving 18 in that 3rd quarter.
cp
January 9th, 2013
8:36 pm
Irving out there giving Lou the blues. And I dont think I have ever seen another team where a guy grabs the ball and instead of giving it to the pg ,they try and dribble up the court as much as the Hawks players do it.l
ag
January 9th, 2013
8:36 pm
Pathetic…. At least I liked it much better when we were beating scrub teams. Teams like Det, and Minny & Clev get double digit leads EVERY NIGHT. Have the Hawks had a lead tonight?
Buddy Grizzard
January 9th, 2013
8:36 pm
Ivan’s efforts in this game are wasted playing with JJ2.
High-sider
January 9th, 2013
8:37 pm
This is REALLY the Hawks team I expected at the beginning of the season.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
8:37 pm
Ivan 2 free throw attempts in 7 minutes; the rest of the team combined 1 free throw attempt in 173 combined minutes.
UGA Golfer
January 9th, 2013
8:37 pm
It is past time to replace Larry Drew. Never thought this was a good hire. The Hawks are waaaaaay worsevthiscseason than last. Unacceptable, lethargic play with no chemistry. Getting slaughtered tonight by a horrible Cleveland team after getting physically dominated last night by another joke of a team WITHOUT THEIR BEST PLAYER! Hawks are in free-fall and don’t deserve the playoffs.
Drew must go!
Big Ray
January 9th, 2013
8:37 pm
Melvin
Devin’s available? I forgot he played for the team…..
W.R.Terrell
January 9th, 2013
8:38 pm
The biggest prob with the HAWKS is that they make bad teams look unbeatable. I wonder what LD is going to say tonight. This is a game the HAWKS can’t afford to lose. LD remains clueless!!!!
MattP
January 9th, 2013
8:38 pm
I wonder how long until Drew gets fired.
Big Ray
January 9th, 2013
8:38 pm
High Sider ,
Hah…and here I was thinking nobody would catch that reference.
You are correct sir….
Mookie Blaylock
January 9th, 2013
8:39 pm
lmao…..blown out…by teams like this?
vava74
January 9th, 2013
8:39 pm
Great move LD, try to win the game with 3 sub par and undersized defenders at the same time (Lou, JJ2 and KK) AND have the rock handled by a guy (Lou) who does not know how to involve the other two…
Why on Earth do you have JJ2 on the floor if the kid does not get a single pass???
Section 212
January 9th, 2013
8:39 pm
One of these teams has won 20 games…. Hawks are looking like their losing streak may reach 10 games! Horford and Teague are responsible for our poor play.
HueyFreeman
January 9th, 2013
8:39 pm
Lou got abused by Kyrie in the 3rd.
Big Ray
January 9th, 2013
8:40 pm
MattP,
I think LD has until this summer. This team isn’t going to suddenly get better and make the playoff just because LD gets cut loose. Need roster moves as well. It will all get done this summer, I figure.
High-sider
January 9th, 2013
8:40 pm
Kyrie Irving has 31 points so far. (smh)
Rod from College Park
January 9th, 2013
8:40 pm
“Rod, how do you know they wouldve made those 5 shots that were blocked? lmao”
Because Zaza is not on their team.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
8:40 pm
Even Zaza giving up offensive rebounds now.
Slimjr
January 9th, 2013
8:40 pm
This game is OVA!
Big Ray
January 9th, 2013
8:41 pm
Zeller beating us up inside.
Damn, man. Just damn.
Astro Joe
January 9th, 2013
8:41 pm
Excuse me I can’t celebrate blocks when the smallest guy on the opposing team doesn’t look like he is ascared of attacking the rim. Defense is about stopping a possession. Blocks are good when they end a possession. Defensive rebounding means a possession ends.
Section 212
January 9th, 2013
8:41 pm
Can we get a clean defensive rebound?
Big Ray
January 9th, 2013
8:42 pm
Zaza has to be tired. But he’s still giving plenty of effort, both ends.
Slimjr
January 9th, 2013
8:42 pm
Horford just recorded his 1st foul in the 4th freaking qtr?
Dfan
January 9th, 2013
8:42 pm
WTF is going on with Drew wearing Cleveland’ colors. Hiz azz been sipping again. The kid is doing the Hawks anyway he wants to.
Mookie Blaylock
January 9th, 2013
8:43 pm
So is there a new trend? Gonna cut it down to a 2-5 point lead only to let them finish us off?
ag
January 9th, 2013
8:43 pm
Irving going for career high. Every night same story.
W.R.Terrell
January 9th, 2013
8:43 pm
This is a must win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
8:44 pm
The Hawks have out-rebounded the Cavs at every position except power forward, where Tristan Thompson has 14 boards to Al’s 3.
Rod from College Park
January 9th, 2013
8:44 pm
“Ivan 2 free throw attempts in 7 minutes; the rest of the team combined 1 free throw attempt in 173 combined minutes.”
Wow. That is unbelievable.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
8:44 pm
Cavs 11/19 3FG (57%); Hawks 5/17 3FG (29%). There’s your game right there.
cp
January 9th, 2013
8:44 pm
This team is so bad at blocking a guy out and grabbing boards
Slimjr
January 9th, 2013
8:44 pm
He was the 1st pick in the Lottery for a reason Nique!
High-sider
January 9th, 2013
8:45 pm
Journalist: Are you frustrated?
Kevin Garnett: This whole godd@mn game is frustrating.
Astro Joe
January 9th, 2013
8:45 pm
ZAZA, nice shot.
Melvin
January 9th, 2013
8:46 pm
How in the heck can Nique call another bball team not smart when the Hawks are losing to the same dumb team by double figures
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
8:46 pm
Go under a screen and give up a wide open 3, give up the offensive board, get beat off the dribble for a dunk. All on the same possession. Nice trifecta right there.
The Cavs’ D-League caliber scrubs are extending the lead.