Atlanta Hawks vs Cleveland Cavaliers: Final Score Predictions For Tonight's Game

Can the Hawks find a way to get their third win of the season against the Cavaliers?
Nov 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) brings the ball up court beside Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) in the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Nov 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) brings the ball up court beside Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) in the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

For those that may not know, the Atlanta Hawks are 2-0 this season against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the top team in the Eastern Conference. If they want to move to 3-0 however, it is going to take quite the effort. Atlanta continues to be shorthanded when it comes to their available roster and will be without Jalen Johnson, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Clint Capela. Atlanta comes into this game on a six game losing streak but they hope they can reverse that and finally get their offense back on track after some poor shooting performances.

One of the few good things to come out of this losing streak is that their defense is starting to find an identity and play with some consistency, which should not be overlooked. Can it play well enough tonight vs the best offense in the NBA? It might have to lead the way if the Hawks have a chance against the Cavs. Keep in mind, the Cavs are on the second night of a back-to-back, having beat the Miami Heat last night. They have yet to release their injury report for tonight's game so keep an eye on that.

Coming into tonight's game, the Hawks are 11th in the NBA in PPG, 18th in FG%, 14th in 3PA, 26th in 3P%, 3rd in FTA, 27th in turnovers, and 7th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 22nd in points per 100 possessions, 22nd in effective field goal percentage, 20th in turnover percentage, 9th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 7th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 27th in PPG allowed, 25th in field goal percentage allowed, 23rd in three-point attempts allowed, and 28th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 14th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 27th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Cleveland comes into this game ranking 2nd in PPG, 2nd in FG%, 4th in 3PA, 1st in 3P%, 23rd in FTA, 16th in rebounding, and 4th in TO. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Cavs rank 1st in points per 100 possessions, 1st in effective field goal percentage, 3rd in turnover percentage, 21st in offensive rebounding percentage, and 23rd in free throw rate.

Defensively, the Cavs are not as elite as they have been in the past, but they are not bad. They rank 11th in PPG allowed, 10th in FG% allowed, 7th in 3PA allowed, and 24th in 3P% allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Cleveland is 9th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 10th in EFG% allowed.

Trae Young is coming off of a 21 point, nine assist game vs the Rockets, but he could have been better than that if his teammates had knocked down some of their open shots. The Hawks have had three straight games where they have scored fewer than 100 points and a lot of that has to do with shooting and not being able to take care of the ball.

Hawks guard Trae Youn
Nov 29, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles the ball past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images / Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Dyson Daniels had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in the last game vs the Rockets, but shot 4-12 from the field and 1-5 from three. He is going to be guarding Donovan Mitchell tonight and in the two previous games against the Cavs this season, he has done a really good job of limiting Mitchell.

Zaccharie Risacher should be back tonight as long as there is not a late addition to the injury report. With the team struggling so much to shoot the ball, Risacher could provide a big boost on that end, though that has not been his strength this season.

Who will start in the place of Jalen Johnson? It is likely going to be either going to be Vit Krejci or Mouhamed Gueye. Gueye got his first NBA start against the Rockets on Tuesday and while he was shaky on offense, he provides athelticism on defense and it might be wise for Atlanta to let him be in the rotation for the rest of the season to see if he can be a part of their future.

Onyeka Okongwu has been a big boost to the Hawks defense since he stepped into the starting lineup, though the team is 0-6. Larry Nance Jr is set to be the backup center tonight with Clint Capela out. Nance has struggled offensively since coming back from his injury.

De'Andre Hunter has played well this week, scoring a career-high 35 points on Monday vs Minnesota and then having 16 vs Houston on Tuesday. With the Hawks's offense struggling, a lot has been put on Hunter's shoulders and that is only going to continue with Johnson out for the rest of the season.

Prediction

The Hawks have won games as double-digit underdogs this season. They have two wins over the Celtics, two over Cleveland, and nearly upset Minnesota as a big underdog this week. The Hawks defense is going to have to lead the way and at some point, the shots have to start falling in right? At some point, Atlanta is going to snap its losing streak and get their offense back on track, but getting a third win over Cleveland might be tough, even with the Cavs on the second night of a back-to-back. I think they keep it close, but Cleveland gets the win.

Final Score: Cavs 118, Hawks 109

Related Links

Hawks vs Cavaliers: Game Preview, Injury Report, Odds, Projected Starting Lineups For Tonight's Game

NBA Trade Rumors: Atlanta and Chicago Reportedly Discussed Trade Involving Clint Capela and Nikola Vucevic

Atlanta Hawks vs Cleveland Cavaliers: Injury Report for Tomorrow's Game


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Jackson Caudell
JACKSON CAUDELL

Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell