DeMarre Carroll, you’re up first.
The Hawks forward will get the starting assignment to defend Cavaliers star LeBron James in the Eastern Conference finals. But Carroll will get help — lots of help.
The Hawks’ success in defending James will be a major key in the series. While the challenge to guard the four-time MVP will begin with Carroll, expect to see Kent Bazemore, Paul Millsap and even Al Horford drawing the assignment as times.
“We want to make it as difficult as possible with LeBron James or any great player,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Sometimes it’s before they catch it or making it difficult when he has the ball. Also, changing up the looks where he maybe doesn’t see or feel the same thing for the entire game. There are, hopefully, a few different things without going to the point of not being ourselves that we can make it difficult.”
Carroll likely will pressure James on the perimeter knowing he has help from rim protectors behind the play in Millsap, Horford, Pero Antic and Mike Muscala. The Hawks have defended James in that manner the past two seasons, a blueprint taken in part from the success of the Spurs.
Carroll said he looks forward to the challenge of defending James – this time on the bright stage of the NBA playoffs. Game 1 of the series is at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Philips Arena.
“I’m just going to go out there and do what I do — be the Junkyard Dog,” Carroll said. “Try to harass him, get up him, try to make him uncomfortable for him. See what happens. …
“I love challenges. I love opportunities. I’ve been through a lot throughout my life with obstacles. Whenever you get an opportunity, you’ve got to take advantage of it. I’m going to go out there and try to take advantage of it.”
In three regular-season games against the Hawks, James averaged 23.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists, all down from the season averages. The Hawks forced James into 14 turnovers in the three games, including nine in their past meeting. James has the most turnovers per game (4.6) during this postseason. The Hawks are tied for fourth in forced turnovers (14.4).
Carroll and James are both 6-foot-8, but James weighs 40 pounds more. It will make his ability to play inside an issue for the Hawks.
James saw a similar defense with the Bulls and Jimmy Butler in the semifinals.
“They’re similar in their own ways,” James told Cleveland reporters Monday. “The best thing about it is they have some very active bigs behind them. It gives them the ability to push up on me and trust that those bigs behind them are going to protect them. I relish the challenge. I love the challenge in both of them.”
With the Hawks plan to use multiple players and schemes on James, this likely will be the series the team misses Thabo Sefolosha the most. The forward has been out since April 8 with a broken right fibula and torn ligaments that required surgery. Sefolosha was another experienced top defender who has played in a number of playoff series in his career.
“We’ve missed Thabo from the second he hasn’t been able to play,” Budenholzer said. “Having multiple people, multiple bodies, to throw at any great player is important. The great thing with DeMarre, Kent Bazemore, Paul Millsap, even an Al Horford, I think we’ve got multiple people we feel can give us a chance to make things difficult for him, throw different looks at him, throw different energy, throw different efforts. Of course we’d like Thabo to be a part of that group. He’s not. We’re prepared to go with what we have.”
Sefolosha would have been the primary backup to Carroll on James. That job now falls to Bazemore. The 6-5 Bazemore has been getting words of encouragement from Sefolosha throughout the playoffs about his defense and mindset.
“I was being a little timid defensively because my biggest thing was guarding without fouling,” Bazemore said. “I took a step back on the aggression and really getting into guys. Thabo was just saying be aggressive. Most guys in this league are going to be hard to stop. The biggest thing is making it tough on them by me ramping up my energy.”
