Cavaliers 105 Hawks 85

Boxscore

Gameflow

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	88.8	0.95	39.8	22.9	35.3	15.8
CLE	88.8	1.19	57.7	42.3	38.5	20.3

Once more, you can start with the Daily Dime where I had to lean on Shakespeare to fill my allotted space with something marginally interesting about the Hawks' fifth blowout loss of this post-season. After that, you could peruse a thought that begins with Wally Szczerbiak.

It's sort of amazing/completely horrifying that the above boxscore supplement, breaking down pace, efficiency, and the four factors flatters the Hawks. Here's what the above looked like through three quarters of last night's game:

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	64.2	0.86	36.8	22.8	34.3	15.6
CLE	64.2	1.32	63.2	35.1	47.1	17.1

Ouch.

Or maybe the Hawks need to figure out away to make this series about Acie Law IV and Thomas Gardner vs. Boobie Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic. They seemed to have an advantage there in the fourth quarter.

Joe Johnson's ankle may push that scenario closer to reality:

While the reserves were on the court finishing the Hawks’ fifth consecutive blowout loss in this postseason — the Cavaliers’ biggest lead was 36 points — Johnson was in a wheelchair being pushed by one of the team’s doctors. They were leaving the Cavaliers’ locker room, where Johnson’s right ankle was being X-rayed.

The results were negative. And Johnson was upbeat on his way out of the building in a walking boot.

“I’ve got a boot on, but I ain’t walking out of here on crutches,” Johnson said. “I can’t see me not playing in Game 3 [Saturday at Philips Arena]. I’m looking forward to getting back out there with guys. And we’ve got 48 hours to get some treatment and try and get better, and we’ll see what happens.”

Mike Woodson takes comfort in...you guessed it:

"We were in the same situation last year with the blowouts in Boston and we were able to go home and make a series out of it. Sure, we’re a little banged up right now. But we have a couple of days to try to regroup physically and get ready for Saturday’s game. But we do have to go back and nurse some injuries and see if we can get some guys ready to go on Saturday."

Josh Smith:

"Any time you let a team shoot 60 percent on you throughout an entire game, you’re just not giving yourself a chance to win."

So true.

A JOSH SMITH FUN FACT: The Hawks lead both games against Cleveland until the moment Josh Smith attempted his first jump shot.

Okay, his first jump shot last night came 54 seconds into the game with the Hawks up 2-0, but still...I'm grasping at straws, aren't I? On to more useful analysis...

The Human Highlight Blog breaks down everything in two excellent paragraphs:

After promising a more ball-movement friendly after Game One, the Hawks employed the same offense we have seen for the majority of the season--and by majority, we mean landslide. This is a flawed offensive approach that preaches individualism and lends itself suspect to teams that play good halfcourt defense (see Celtics, Boston). We have said and the Hawks have shown that they will only travel as far through the playoffs as this style will allow, and we are seeing the signs of the end of the road.

The defensive end is just as exposed by good teams and is less defendable--as this is based on trust and effort. Too often opponents execute anything they want. Sure, part of the problem is a point guard that can't be hidden unless benched, but there are other issues as well. Josh Smith freelancing, rebounds not being procured, defense late in rotating, and loose balls going to the other team as their 7'3 center with creaky everythings outhustles the team for possession.

That whole post is excellent. Consider it officially recommended.

As is Mark Bradley's take:

Two sequences told the grim tale: At the end of the first quarter, LeBron somehow got isolated against poor Solomon Jones. On cue, LeBron whirled past Jones and dunked behind his head.

Flash forward to the shank of the second quarter: The Hawks sought to hold for one shot, though there was a four-second difference between the clocks. They wound up being whistled for a 24-second violation. And LeBron took the ball in backcourt and, from 40 feet away, rose above Mario West and flipped the ball through the hoop.