Atlanta, GA

Player Grades: Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks – Defense struggles

Published

1 year ago

November 29, 2024

Player Grades: Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks – Defense struggles

The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially hit their first slump of the season, dropping back-to-back games against the Atlanta Hawks. We can’t complain too much about a 17-3 start to the year but let’s get these gripes out of the way in today’s grades.

Grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.

Donovan Mitchell

12 points (5-23 shooting), 11 rebounds, 6 assists

You won’t win many games when your best player performs this poorly. Mitchell has more than proven himself as an otherworldly offensive talent — but even the best scorers are bound to have nights like this.

Mitchell’s lack of scoring wouldn’t be as glaring if the defensive effort around him was better. The Cavs struggled to gain any momentum in this game due to their lack of focus defensively. Mitchell is not excused from this. So when you combine both ends of the floor, we have no choice but to give him his worst grade of the season.

Grade: D

Evan Mobley

24 points (10-17 shooting), 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

Mobley is the answer if you’re searching for something to feel good about from these two losses. He put together two of the finest scoring games he’s had in a Cavalier uniform — aggressively attacking the Hawks in both games.

Mobley’s confidence continues to grow as the Cavs give him more opportunities to spread his wings. He had numerous attacks on the basket today where he put his head down and rammed through multiple defenders for a flush. Even in a loss, Mobley takes another step forward.

Grade: A

Darius Garland

29 points (11-19 shooting), 5 assists

Aside from Mobley, Garland is the only other Cavalier who played heavy minutes and deserves a positive grade. His scoring kept them somewhat in striking distance despite the plethora of issues around him. Garland wasn’t exactly great on defense — but at least he gave them a dose of scoring to make up for it.

Garland’s 19 field goal attempts are worth noting. He recognized the situation and began unloading the clip in the second half. It wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit but Garland turned in a quality performance.

Grade: B+

Jarrett Allen

6 points (3-3 shooting), 5 rebounds

I could hardly tell Allen played 25 minutes tonight. That lets you know that something was wrong.

Part of the blame has to be placed on Allen. After all, it’s his responsibility to make his impact felt. But feeding the ball to a rolling seven-footer shouldn’t be that difficult. This is a common theme for the Cavs — whenever one of the guards is struggling — the big men suffer.

Still, this was a bad game from Allen. He finished with just five rebounds and had a hard time covering the perimeter against Altanta’s spaced-out offense. Unlearning some of his defensive instincts to protect the paint (and instead rotating to the three-point line) is something Allen must continue to work on.

Grade: D

Isaac Okoro

2 points (0-5 shooting), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal

Okoro had all the right ideas tonight. The problem was executing any of them. His lack of assertiveness showed on multiple drives to the rim that ended in Okoro getting his weak shot attempt blocked. A more decisive attack would have resulted in free throws, at worst.

It’s unfortunate because Okoro was the Cavalier’s best option defensively. His ability to hold Trae Young on an island was sorely needed — but his lack of offensive juice made it impossible for Cleveland to keep him on the floor once the deficit reached double-digits.

Okoro’s process was fine. He made good reads and cut to the basket at the right time. Finishing plays is an ongoing battle.

Grade: D-

Caris LeVert

8 points (2-5 shooting), 2 assists, 1 rebound

This was LeVert’s first NBA game in weeks. So, we can’t be too tough on him. It became clear almost immediately that LeVert would need a few minutes to shake the rust off himself.

His first half was not good. But LeVert did gain momentum in the second half with a pair of triples. His value as a switchable defender will go a long way toward patching up Cleveland’s recent defensive woes once LeVert gets his sea legs back. He just wasn’t there yet tonight.

Grade: C

Sam Merrill

7 points (2-7 shooting), 1 assist

Merrill’s value on any given night is self-explanatory. He’s an elite motion shooter who tries harder on defense than he gets credit for. But when the shot isn’t falling — and the defense isn’t holding up — Merrill becomes tough to watch.

This game can’t be pinned on Merrill by any means. Still, he didn’t help swing things at any point.

Grade: D

Georges Niang

3 points (1-6 shooting), 2 assists, 1 rebound

Listen, anyone who has watched Niang over the last two seasons understands the type of game we just saw. He provided nothing on offense while being an easy target on defense. These are games where Niang’s potential three-point shooting is the only justification for his playing time. That potential didn’t materialize tonight and it resulted in one of his worst games to date.

Grade: F

Ty Jerome

7 points (3-7 shooting), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals

The Typhoon is slowing down. Jerome hasn’t been a negative in either game but his scorching hot shooting has cooled off. This shouldn’t come as a surprise — Jerome was shooting unsustainably great splits from every spot on the floor.

Still, Jerome was able to impact the game in the second half with multiple steals. He won’t always shoot the cover off the ball but Jerome has done enough to prove he can be a positive contributor, or at least break even, on nights when his jumper isn’t falling.

Grade: C

Jaylon Tyson

3 points (1-1 shooting), 3 rebounds

Tyson is still dipping his toes in offensively but he has dove headfirst defensively to be an instant-impact player. He played with more effort than most of the roster in both games and his nose for offensive rebounds is going to give him a skill to fall back on, even when his role as a scorer hasn’t been defined.

We won’t get carried away but Tyson has done a fine job in his limited playing time to start this season.

Grade: C+

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Atlanta, GA

Blazers Outclassed in Every Aspect By Atlanta

Published

12 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Blazers Outclassed in Every Aspect By Atlanta

The Portland Trail Blazers put up an absolute stinker on Sunday, getting destroyed by the .500 Atlanta Hawks, 135-101. It was a soul-destroying loss. Jrue Holiday and Donovan Clingan have at least some reason to hold their heads high, with Holiday putting up 23 points on 56.3% shooting and Clingan getting a 15 point/15 rebound double-double. Otherwise you have to squint pretty hard to take away anything positive for the Blazers.

Here are a few observations from the game:

First Quarter Disaster Class

Not a whole lot went right for the Blazers in the first quarter other than Jrue Holiday’s 14 points in the frame. No other Blazer could manage more than three points. At the other end of the court, the Hawks were getting to the free throw line with ease, taking 15 freebies against only two for the Blazers. Atlanta found it easy to get wide-open shots too. Simple penetrate-and-kick was the order of the day, and it was shockingly successful. Five turnovers for Portland didn’t help either. With everything going wrong, the refs added to the misery, ignoring some laughably physical play for a steal at one end, while whistling Vit Krejci for a block on a clear charge on the other. Poor whistles led to frustration, with Clingan losing the plot a bit and picking up his third foul in the quarter out of frustration. Finishing down 19 at the end of the first quarter is no way to win a basketball game, yet somehow it could have been worse. With a bit over a minute to go, the Blazers had been down 24. Credit for not giving up I guess, but… yeesh.

Okongwu was terrific. At one point in the 2nd quarter, he had 20 points on 77.8% shooting from the field and 75% shooting from deep. Not bad for a 6’10” center. He was always open in the corner. Every time down the court. If Atlanta had wanted to make feeding him a priority, Okongwu might have finished with 60. Instead, they ignored the obvious and gave every Hawk who took the court plenty of touches and shots. It’s hard to argue with a 34-point win, but it really should have been a 40-point lead at halftime if the Hawks had pressed their advantage.

Henderson’s Three-Point Shot

It’s still early days for Henderson’s 25-26 season, but he’s shown good things coming back from injury. His strength and first step are encouraging. His three-point shooting, however, has been a real problem. For a team that was already at or around the worst three-point percentage in the NBA before Henderson took the court, the last thing they needed was him to come in and shoot 24% for the season. In this game he attempted 4 of them, making one. Two of his misses were so ugly that Atlanta fans were embarrassed for him. Without a functional shot from range, he’s just not showing enough to win the starting job.

Three Quarters of Garbage Time

One way to look at this game is to give the Blazers credit for keeping it pretty even for most of the game after the soul-crushing first quarter. You could also give Portland credit for finding their way to the arena today. This game was decided early and nothing the Blazers did the rest of the way gave anybody a sense that they could mount a comeback. That’s pretty discouraging.

Nice Shooting Percentage From Krejci, But…

75% shooting from the field and 66% from three for Krejci? Yes, please! Three total shots from deep and five overall in a game when they needed points? No, no, no. Krejci seemed like a brilliant pickup for the Blazers, what with him shooting over 40% from three the last three season in Atlanta. He just hasn’t had the kind of impact we all imagined so far. It’s still early in his Blazer career, but the 31.7% that Krejci is shooting from beyond the arc for the Blazers isn’t what anyone had in mind. Today he made his first three shots, with two of them from deep. Would this be the game that could get him on track? Unfortunately he’d only take one more three-pointer the rest of the game. It’s incredible that they wouldn’t at least try to lean into him a bit more when he looked like he might be poised to break out of his Blazers’ shooting slump.

The Blazers will get two days off before taking on the apparently lottery-bound Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. A Portland win would probably suit both clubs just fine.

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Atlanta, GA

Drama mars finish of half-marathon national championships in Atlanta

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Drama mars finish of half-marathon national championships in Atlanta

The 2026 Publix Atlanta Marathon, which served as the USA Track & Field Half Marathon Championships, met chaos Sunday in the women’s half marathon event.

Three runners — Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat — were led off course by an official race vehicle with less than 2 miles to go. The nearly-half-mile error, according to data from Hurley’s Strava account, cost the runners their top-three finishes.

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Atlanta, GA

Police increase presence across metro Atlanta amid teen takeover rumors

Published

2 days ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Police increase presence across metro Atlanta amid teen takeover rumors

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Popular gathering spots across metro Atlanta saw heightened law enforcement presence Saturday night following rumors of potential “teen takeovers.”

Authorities say a similar event last weekend led to more than a dozen teenagers and adults being taken into custody. In response, agencies across the metro area are stepping up patrols in several high-traffic areas, including the Beltline and the Cumberland Mall and Battery districts.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 9 juveniles, 8 adults charged after weekend ‘takeover’ event at The Battery

Along the Atlanta Beltline, Atlanta police confirmed they increased staffing levels as a precaution. An APD officer on scene told Atlanta News First that officers are maintaining an enhanced presence due to the takeover rumors. An Atlanta News First crew observed multiple people put in handcuffs and an APD officer at the Beltline said four guns had been confiscated.

Multiple patrol units were visible along the Beltline, with officers monitoring foot traffic and briefly detaining several individuals. Police said the show of force is intended to deter large, disruptive gatherings before they begin.

Cumberland Mall to have teen curfew Saturday after ‘takeover’ at The Battery

In Cobb County, law enforcement agencies are coordinating efforts around Cumberland Mall and The Battery Atlanta. The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office deployed its mounted patrol unit, with four deputies on horseback circling the mall. Units from the Cobb County Police Department, Marietta Police Department, and the Georgia State Patrol were also seen monitoring traffic and pedestrian activity in the area.

Electronic message boards and posted signage between Cumberland and The Battery warned visitors of the increased law enforcement presence. Officers said the goal is to prevent a repeat of last weekend’s arrests and ensure public safety.

For now, officials say the evening remains calm, but they are prepared to respond quickly if large crowds begin to form.

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