Hawks looking to push back as LeBron still stands in their way

By Chris Vivlamore

Nov 7, 2016

LeBron James still stands in the Hawks’ way.

The Cavaliers and James swept the Hawks out of the playoffs that past two seasons. Whether or not it was a direct response to those postseason failures, the Hawks made several significant changes to their roster this summer. The most notable change was the addition of Dwight Howard.

The Hawks think the center brings a physical presence and rebounding. There will be an early-season test Tuesday on whether those changes will help the Hawks get past the Cavaliers Tuesday in Cleveland.

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, also with a role of president of basketball operations, said recently that the roster changes were not made specifically to get past the Cavaliers.

“You are constantly trying to get better,” Budenholzer said. “We feel like this is a group that can be better. It has the potential to be more physical, hopefully even better defensively, more edgy. Can we still draw on the positives, the high I.Q. that we’ve had for two or three years and the unselfishness that we’ve had for two or three years and add a little more physical presence? We’ll need that if we are playing Detroit, if we’re playing Milwaukee, if we’re playing Miami, if we’re playing Memphis in the West. I’m hoping that this combination of players is something that is going to be very good.”

The Hawks had a shot to dethrone James two seasons ago. They entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s top seed after a 60-win regular season. The Cavaliers were without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving for all or most of the conference finals. The Hawks were without Thabo Sefolosha and then lost Kyle Korver in Game 2. The Cavaliers needed just four games to end the threat.

Last season, the Hawks had a conference semifinal matchup with the Cavaliers and provided the same little resistance.

James-led teams have advanced to the NBA Finals out of the East six straight seasons – four with the Heat and the past two with the Cavaliers. He has three championships in the span, including making NBA history last season by being the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit when they beat the Warriors in the finals.

Budenholzer added that the Hawks did not go through their summer rebuild with beating James as the primary thought process. He said the goal was simply to assemble the best team possible.

“I think good players and good teams that’s ultimately what you have to have,” Budenholzer said. “If you spend too much time obsessing about a team or a player, you may not ever even play that team or that player in the playoffs. You just have to put together the best team possible with as many good players as possible and that is what is going to give you your best chance. You make a mistake chasing something that is that specific.”

The Cavaliers have earned a swagger against the Hawks. Counting last regular season and the two playoff series, the Cavaliers have won 11 straight against the Hawks. Players point to the physical edge the Cavaliers have demonstrated during the run.

Nowhere has that been clearer than on the boards. The Cavaliers had a combined 391-315 rebounding advantage in the two playoff series. The Cavaliers’ 18-6 offensive rebound advantage in Game 3 last season was perhaps the Hawks’ most glaring inefficiency in the statistic.

“I think past years, when you get swept, I feel like you got out-physicaled,” Paul Millsap said. “I think the team that goes four games to zero was more physical. It takes a lot mentally and physically to sweep a team. This year I think it’s different. I think we are more physical. I think we can match their physicality.”

Howard does give the Hawks an inside presence that was lacking previously. He leads with Hawks and is ranked fifth in the NBA with 12.3 rebounds through six games. Coach and players said they believe a more physical and tough team will help the Hawks against the league’s elite teams.

“We talk about it as team of what we need to do to get over the hump,” said Howard, who was a nominee for Eastern Conference player of the week. “It starts with physicality. We’ve been a very physical team since the start of the season. We have to play physical and play through contact. When you are playing against a team like the Cavs, they are going to be physical. They get into you, try to push you around and try to muck the game up. It’s up to us to make sure we match that intensity and effort and be physical ourselves. We’ve got to push back.”

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