A pair of Eastern Conference rivals tip off on Saturday when the Cleveland Cavaliers (24-15, 4th Eastern Conference) pay a visit to State Farm Arena to play the Atlanta Hawks (17-23, 10th Eastern Conference). Cleveland defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 135-95 on Wednesday night and the Cavaliers have won six straight. Cleveland is now fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. Atlanta will play Miami on Friday before hosting Cleveland on Saturday and the Hawks have won two straight after defeating the Orlando Magic 106-104 on Wednesday. Cleveland will play without Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Ty Jerome. Atlanta will play without Wesley Matthews, Vit Krejci, DeAndre Hunter and Mouhamed Gueye. Trae Young is questionable.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers are scoring an average of 113.6 points per game which is 20th in the NBA. Atlanta is shooting 47.6% overall which is 15th and 35.4% from 3 point land which is 26th. The Cavaliers are shooting 76.7% from the free throw line which is 22nd. Donovan Mitchell is the leading scorer for Cleveland with an average of 28.2 points per game and with Garland and Mobley sidelined, the second leading scorer is Caris LeVert with an average of 16 points per game. Mitchell is the leader in assists with an average of 5.8 per game.
Cleveland's defense is its key to success as the Cavaliers are allowing an average of 110.3 points per game which is second best in the NBA. Cleveland is holding opponents to 45.8% shooting overall which is fifth best and 35.4% shooting from 3-point land which is 9th best. Cleveland averages 11.3 offensive and 33.9 defensive rebounds per game for a total of 45.2, led by Jarrett Allen with an average of 10.2 boards per contest. Allen is the leader in blocked shots with an average of 1.0 per game and Mitchell is the leader in steals with an average of 2.0 per game.
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