The Atlanta Hawks will be looking to snap their run of six back-to-back defeats when they visit the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.
While a run of two consecutive victories has seen Cleveland end their recent blip, they now face the challenge of an opposing side who have won each of their last three meetings since last March.
Match preview
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The Cleveland Cavaliers shot 54% from the field on Wednesday night as they rolled past the Miami Heat 126-106 when the sides squared off at the Kaseya Center.
In what was their sixth wire-to-wire win of the season, Donovan Mitchell dropped a game-high 34 points and provided six assists to lead the Cavs as they snapped their run of three consecutive defeats against the Heat.
Mitchell was one of five Cleveland players to finish with double digits, including Ty Jerome, who tallied 20 points off the bench, and Even Mobley, who dropped 22 points and 15 rebounds to record his 20th double-double of the campaign.
Before that, Kenny Atkinson's men suffered three back-to-back, losing twice against the Houston Rockets on either side of a 132-129 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers on January 25, before brushing aside the Detroit Pistons 110-91 at the Little Caesars Arena.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are now 38-9 from their 47 games this season to lead the way at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, five wins more than the Boston Celtics in second place.
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Over in Atlanta, the Hawks were on the wrong end of a narrow defeat against the Houston Rockets as they fell 100-96 when the sides met at the State Farm Arena on Tuesday night.
The Hawks led by as many as seven points in the second quarter and three in the third but Jalen Green dropped 14 of his 25 points in the second half to pull the Rockets through and inspire them to a fourth consecutive win.
Atlanta Hawks have now lost six games on the bounce — scoring less than 100 points in their most recent three games — since picking up consecutive victories over the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics between January 15 and January 19.
This drop-off in form has seen Quin Snyder's men plunge into ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings as they now hold a 22-25 record, just two wins above 10th-placed Chicago Bulls in the final play-in spot.
While the Atlanta Hawks will be looking to find their feet this weekend and make it four straight victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers, they lost all but one of their last six visits to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse since July 2022.
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Team News
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Mitchell recorded his 14th 30-point game of the season and his fifth in seven matches with his dominant display against the Heat and the 29-year-old is now averaging 23.9 points per game.
On the injury front, Caris LeVert (wrist), Isaac Okoro (shoulder) Dean Wade, (bone bruise) all continue their spells on the sidelines and will play no part in Friday's clash.
Sam Merrill did not feature in Tuesday's defeat against the Rockets due to illness while 25-year-old Darius Garland is considered day-to-day heading into the weekend, having missed the last two games.
The Hawks have their own fair share of injury concerns as Jalen Johnson and Bufkin Kobe are confirmed to miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season through shoulder injuries while Clint Capela is recuperating from a back problem.
Veteran guard Bogdan Bogdanovic has been ruled out of the trip to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse due to personal reasons while offensive leader Trae Young is considered day-to-day after picking up a slight hamstring problem.
Cleveland Cavaliers possible starting 5:
Mitchell, Strus, Allen, Mobley, Tyson
Atlanta Hawks possible starting 5:
Daniels, Young, Okongwu, Gueye, Krejci
We say: The Cleveland Cavaliers to win by 7+ points.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have bounced back from their slump in form and will fancy their chances of making it three wins on the trot as they take on a struggling Atlanta Hawks side who have lost their last six outings.
We predict that Atkinson's men will continue from where they left off in their wire-to-wire victory over the Heat and roll past Atlanta at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Joshua Ojele
