Pregame Dribbles: Cavs Aim To Bounce Back From ‘Stinker’ In Rematch With Hawks

November 29, 2024

Random dribbles ahead of the Cavaliers’ road game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday (2:30 p.m. EST tipoff). …

1. The Cavs have some revenge to exact. They lost their first home game of the season and looked pretty bad defensively on Wednesday. And now here we are again, less than 48 hours later, in Atlanta, for NBA Cup game.

2. As coach Kenny Atkinson said of the loss, “We haven’t had too many stinkers this year — that was a stinker.”

3. Yes it was. The Cavs didn’t have it that night after building a 30-11 lead. Even Ty Jerome looked human. Georges Niang looked downright bad.

4. I’m not saying anything that everyone doesn’t already know. You are going to have nights like that in the NBA. Here’s something else you should know — the Cavs will have more. But let’s hope they don’t have them for long stretches.

5. That’s a possibility, too, though. Again, this is an 82-game season. The Cavs (17-2) haven’t even played 20 of them.

6. Fans react to every loss as if it’s the end of the world. Professional athletes and coaches do not. They very much have an “on-to-the-next” mentality. Know why? Because this is the NBA and there is always another game. Learn and apply what you’ve learned. There’s no time for them to sit around and post their feelings on social media. That’s our job.

7. The Hawks (8-11) are a fairly interesting team. Lord knows they are dangerous. They’ve now defeated the defending champion Celtics and the Cavaliers on the road. They also are the only team to have lost to the woeful Wizards — twice. Yep, Washington is 2-15 and both wins are over the Hawks.

8. Anyway, tipoff is indeed 2:30 p.m. It’s a Black Friday special. So these Dribbles are right up against tipoff. Let’s see what the Cavs can do. They have to be better defensively than they were the other night. Offensively, things are usually fine. They say they know all this. Time to put it into action again.

9. Dean Wade (ankle) remains out. Caris LeVert (knee) has been upgraded to questionable. Trae Young (Achilles) is probable for the Hawks. He looked like Steve Nash last game. The Cavs will need to contain him.