The Cleveland Cavaliers have a chance to sweep the season series with the Atlanta Hawks in their third and final game Sunday.
It was a 96-91 win for the Cavaliers back in January which saw Cleveland win game one of three against the Hawks. Game two featured a game-winning dunk from Lamar Stevens which gave the Cavs a 112-11 victory to snap a double-digit losing streak. Sunday will be their third and final matchup of the season with Cleveland having a chance to sweep the Hawks.
Atlanta has won four-straight games, including wins over Toronto and Miami. The Hawks are obviously trending in a good direction while the Cavaliers are losers of two straight. Cleveland could benefit with the possible return of Darius Garland this evening while Atlanta does not have any injured players listed.
What it will come down to is the same thing it always comes down to when facing the Hawks, slowing down Trae Young. Stopping Young is simply not an option, so the next best thing is slowing him down. Young is averaging 26.7 points per game on 43.3% from the field with 9.3 assists per game as well. The third-year guard can do a lot of damage from three-point range as he averages 2.6 makes on 38% from deep. Young is more than capable of going off from deep and the Cavaliers must be wary of that.
Can the Cavs complete the sweep? It’s possible, but it is not like Cleveland is firing on all cylinders right now. Even with the return of some players, the team still has not played a ton of minutes together. The chemistry that this team needs simply isn’t there at times and that is quite apparent. It is also possible that the Hawks salvage a win and avoid a sweep Sunday.
