Atlanta – what they call grit and grind.
The turbulent Cleveland Cavaliers, in the midst of their season’s most boring road trip and two match-losing rides, went down 15 points in the second half to give the Atlanta Hawks a 96-91 lead on Saturday night.
For months, head coach JB Bickerstaff has been preaching about certain Cavaliers identities. Performed it on Saturday.
“When we got to the locker room at halftime from our coach’s meeting, we asked what they thought and we got their opinion,” Bikrestaff said following the game. “They have already discussed this,” he said. They knew what we needed to do. They knew we needed to move the ball. They knew we needed to play together. They knew we needed to scrap. My challenge then was to put the words into action. Those things are easier said than done. And they went and they took the words to fill the steps. “
No. Kevin Love. Of Isaac Okoro. Not Dylan Windler. No Kevin Porter Jr. Matthew Delavedova. Another slow start, which led to a 15-point gap on the road against the superior team, which had four wins in its first five games and a huge win the night before in Brooklyn. Three-point shots did not fall early. There were size irregularities throughout the court. But nothing changed. Bikerstaff’s message, one about handling the game’s adverse conditions, echoed clearly after Thursday’s loss to Indiana.
The prescribed caves did not allow frustration to get better among them. Instead, they kept believing, fighting and pushing. Suddenly, it was a two-possession game early in the fourth quarter. After that, Cleveland finally stepped forward at the 9:47 mark.
Even when the Hawks tied the game with Bogdan Bogdanovich triple in the final minute, the Cavs got stuck together, quietly running their offense and hitting the ball to their most famous scorer Colin Sexton, who broke the tie – cold-blooded 3 with 27.2 seconds left.
“It’s a walking bucket,” Bikerstaff said. “There are some people who have the toughness to put the ball in the basket all the way. The child is not afraid of the biggest moments. When we needed a basket, he went and picked up the basket, and that’s a unique skill. We should appreciate that skill because it helps you on this kind of night. We were struggling off the field, had a hard time, people were scraping and fighting, but we couldn’t get it to the offensive end, so it was great to have a weapon that could get a bucket on demand. ”
Sexton scored a game-high 27 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, half the output of Cleveland. He is the first player since LeBron James in 2004-05 to score at least 20 points in each of the Cavs’ first six games of the season. Joining James, in Stein Care and Bingo Smith is the fourth player in franchise history to achieve the feat.
“It’s definitely important to run the Colin crime properly,” Jawale McGee said. “Make sure he’s shooting the right shot. Knowing where he picks up his spots from sitting in the bag and actually taking his shots is definitely getting better and better, and then when to pass and when to handle. “
Maggie gave a strong boost to the two benches, scoring 14 points with nine hits, four assists and two steals.
“I felt that Javel was not considered defensive.” “He came in and showed our people that he looks like a winner. He plays down the stretch, and what he did was elevate the fact that people wanted to compete with him and scrap with him. Everyone on that floor saw it and took their challenge because they didn’t want to be the one who wasn’t doing it. “
Andre Drummond recorded his sixth straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Sidi Usman, in his new reserve role, came back in 11 points.
Playing Hawks on the second night of back-to-back, the bikerstaff talked about the importance of a quick start, hoping to take advantage of Atlanta’s tired legs. Although it didn’t happen, the Cavs’ kept pushing all night – and cracked it further until the final 24 minutes – until the league’s most notorious offense scored just 35 points.
It is the first time in all seasons that the Hawks have been held below the 100-point threshold. All-star point guard Trey Young, the offensive engine who finished third in the night scoring, was knocked off the floor in a 6-of-16 weak and 16-point night 16-point night. Point range.
“They scored 35 runs on us in the first quarter and then in the remaining three quarters of the game, 36 minutes into the basketball, we took them to 53 points,” Larry Nance Jr. glotted. “It simply came to our notice then. He has not heard. As we keep saying, that’s what we’ll hang our hats on every night. If you play defense, there is no game that you end up with. “
Last Sunday’s win against Philadelphia saw a surprising drop in the opening week. But the Caves have been looking different ever since. In part, because they are. Even shorthanded, missing some major rotation fragments, they have the same DNA that a bikerstaff is trying to establish in his short-handed group: grit and grind.
That’s how culture starts to change.
Now the next
The Cavs will depart for Orlando in two straight games. The first is Monday, the tip off is set at 7 p.m.
–
New Caves facial masks for sale: Here you can buy Cleveland Cavaliers-based face ings for coronavirus protection, including a mask (. 14.99) and a 3-pack (. 24.99). All NBAs donate in donations.
More Cavaliers coverage
On both ends of the floor – the Cavaliers are missing reliable vocal setter Isaac Okoro
Love hurts again, Garland grows, a few words about defense – Terry Talkin ‘
Bikerstaff talks to Cavaliers about confidence, reassurance facing difficulties
Cavaliers 2020 ends in fitting fashion, losing another straight from pacers
The Cavaliers are not expected to play Windler during the six-game road trip
Larry Nance Jr. was pushed into the spotlight after KP Love’s injury
Cavaliers will see an increase in losses first: ‘Last year we would have probably reduced by 30 by0’
