DeMarre Carroll missed his chance to guard James Harden.
Now, LeBron James awaits.
Carroll, the Hawks defensive stopper, will draw the challenge of guarding James tonight with the Cavaliers in town. Carroll said he has a strategy in defending James.
“Just be aggressive,” Carroll said of his assignment. “Try to get a little physical with him. You can’t take everything away but at the same time, you can make it harder. Tony Allen always told me you can stop every guy in the league but you can make it harder on them.
“He is a great player. He’s arguably the best player in the NBA right now. You just make it hard on him, wear him out, get him tired. My uncle always told me fatigue makes a coward out of you. Hopefully, I can get him tired, use my energy and be active.”
The Hawks have won two of the three games against the Cavaliers this season. However, this is a different Cavaliers team. They’ve added Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to their roster.
“It’s a different team,” Millsap said. “They’ve got some add-ons. We feel like we’re a different team. We’ve changed a few things. It should be a good test for us to play against an elite team and see where we are.”
Just how are the Hawks different?
“We’ve got a lot more games under our belt,” Millsap said. “We’re seasoned.”
Other notes:
* Dominique Wilkins will address the crowd tonight at halftime as the culmination of Nique Week. His statue was permanently erected outside Philips Arena Friday morning.
* The Hawks had their normal home white uniforms hanging in their lockers before the game. However, stay tuned. There is a chance they could suit up in throw-back uniforms.
* Jarell Eddie, who signed a 10-day contract Thursday, will be inactive tonight. He could make his NBA debut Saturday as the Hawks complete a back-to-back at the 76ers.
