Atlanta beat Cleveland again thanks in part to stifling defense in the first quarter. Did Cleveland discover an adjustment that was too late to stem the tide Friday, but could be used in a playoff series?
The Hawks and Cavaliers put together a treat on Friday night. While the Hawks won this round, this story is far from finished because the two teams are likely to face each other in the Eastern Conference Finals given the failures of every other contender in the conference. If and when they do, file this Xs and Os thought away.
The Hawks raced ahead to a 17-point first quarter lead thanks to their swarming defense. They forced six turnovers in the quarter, five of which were by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Most notably, they sent hard traps at Cleveland's side pick and rolls, short-circuiting its offense before it could even start.
Nobody in the league is better at trapping a side pick and roll than the Hawks. Their timing is impeccable. Three key parts need to be working in unison on any good trap: the primary defender, the trapping big man and the third guy that must position himself between the rolling big and his own man on the opposite side of the floor. Without all three, a point guard can either turn the corner or find the big man and/or opposite-side shooter to alleviate the pressure. That'll make any trap look bad.
This sequence at the 2:41 mark of the first quarter shows all three pillars in action. There's Dennis Schroeder and Pero Antic giving Irving no space on the trap.
Notice too where Kent Bazemore is standing. If Tristan Thompson rolls, he's there to stop it. If Irving passes to Iman Shumpert, he can still recover. Bazmore is helping the trappers by cutting off an obvious pass and the trappers are helping Bazemore effectively cover two people by making any Irving pass difficult. That's how they're able to eventually recover when Irving throws the crosscourt pass to Shumpert.
Here's another example of Atlanta's trapping in real time from earlier in the game.
But there's a common denominator in both plays: the man setting the screen for Cleveland. The Hawks made a decision that if Timofey Mozgov or Tristan Thompson set the screen, the trap would spring into action. Those big men are great rollers, but the Hawks believed their other three defenders could deal with them and still recover if a dive to the basket opened a shooter on the opposite side.
Cleveland eventually made an adjustment to use Kevin Love as the screener instead. Rather than having him take more time rolling to the basket, Love was used to fade away and be an immediate release valve for the ball-handler. Here's an example of all the good options that opens up for Cleveland.
Love took the shot and missed, but it was a good look. That process will generally yield excellent results and it did at other points in the third quarter.
Cleveland also stopped running side pick and rolls altogether and worked through James in the post, a move Atlanta may welcome, but one that can lead to open perimeter shots on the opposite side due to James' pinpoint passing.
It wasn't enough to win this game because the Cavaliers dug too big a hole, let Kyle Korver get hot to begin the fourth quarter and couldn't defend the Hawks well enough down the stretch. Still, these are adjustments the Cavaliers can jot down in their notes for a meeting down the line. Love's deployment in the pick and roll game is a big key in a potential seven-game series between these two teams.
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