CLEVELAND — The stage has been set for the Cleveland Cavaliers as their chance to make the 2022 NBA playoffs comes down to a matchup on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The battle comes after Atlanta beat the Charlotte Hornets 132-103 on Wednesday night to advance in the NBA Play-In Tournament. The Hawks used a hot shooting night from deep to easily secure their matchup in Cleveland on Friday.
The winner of the game on Friday night will officially make the NBA playoffs, heading to Miami to take on the Heat this coming Sunday afternoon as the No. 8 seed in Game 1 of a best-of-seven series. The loser heads to the NBA Draft Lottery and summer vacation.
The game also happens to take place at the same time as the Cleveland Guardians home opener at Progressive Field, which means downtown is going to be busy as sports fans descend on the city.
Matchup to watch
The game Friday night will feature at least two All-Stars as Cleveland’s Darius Garland will look to punch his first ticket to the playoffs while Atlanta’s Trae Young is looking to help the Hawks return after a run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
Both Garland and Young have had fantastic years, as Garland figures to find himself on plenty of NBA Most Improved Player ballots, and Young may find himself on the All-NBA Third Team depending on how voting shakes out.
These players will certainly be the two best on the court, but the determining factor as to who wins could be which actually has the better game.
One key for the Cavs
For the Cavs to win, they’re going to need to get much more from their role players than they did in Tuesday night’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets in their first play-in game. Poor games from Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman, Lauri Markkanen and Lamar Stevens all put the team in a tough spot to overcome the early 40-20 deficit. The team needs much better action, specifically, from one of Okoro or Osman, as the pair combined for two points on 0-7 shooting in 34 minutes.
The Hawks certainly are an easier matchup for the Cavs than the Nets were, but this Hawks team did win three of the four matchups between the two squads this season.
One key for the Hawks
If Young is the best player on the floor, the Hawks are going to win -- especially if they shoot the basketball the way they did in their victory against the Hornets on Wednesday night. The Hawks knocked down 16 of their 32 attempted three-points as six players -- including all five starters -- scored in double-figures. The Hawks had this hot shooting night despite Young only making one of his seven attempted three-pointers. In fact, outside of Young, only one player on the Hawks -- Bogdan Bogdanovich -- shot less than 50 percent from the field in the game. If Atlanta is as efficient offensively as they were against the Hornets, they’ll be moving on to take on the Heat on Sunday.
What Vegas thinks, via FanDuel
Point spreads and totals out in Las Vegas can change constantly, but as of now Atlanta is a 2.5-point favorite to win this game and can be had at -146 on the money line. The total is set at 224.5.
Tip off and how to watch
Tip off for Friday night’s game is set for 7:30 p.m. from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and the game can be seen on ESPN. The commentary crew has not yet been announced.
