Hawks going into series with Cavs by getting defensive

ATLANTA -- Hey, didn’t you used to be the Atlanta Hawks?

You know, three-point shooters galore, heroes of the pass, wizards at spreading out the defense, transition demons?

The team that won 60 games in 2014-15 with a furnace of offense?

The Hawks still do those things, but they have been busier on the defensive end this season changing their identity from offense-first to defense-first. They go into the Eastern Conference semifinals against Cleveland with vigor, and an understanding they must be more combative than the 2015 East finals when the Cavaliers swept them.

“They beat us up and wore us down last year,” forward Paul Millsap said. “I think we’re stronger this year, especially defensively. Our rebounding has gotten a little bit better. I think our grittiness has gotten better.

“We’re going to rely on that. The whole season we’ve been a team who focuses on our defense and fed off our defense and our fight.”

The Cavaliers, the No. 1 seed in the East, have the superior offense with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. They also have 6-foot-9 power forward Tristan Thompson, who has manhandled the Hawks on the boards. Cleveland was 3-0 against the Hawks in the 2015-16 regular season.

Atlanta has vowed to be more stubborn, more physical, and more ornery in this series. The Celtics came into the first-round of the playoffs against Atlanta with the highest-scoring team in the East (105.7) and the Hawks held Boston to 93.8 points per game (albeit with Avery Bradley sidelined five games with an injury) and won the series 4-2.

Atlanta blocked eight shots per game against Boston, including 15 in Game 2 and 12 in Game 6. When the Hawks watch film, 80% of the time is devoted to the defensive end, center Al Horford said.

“This year we’ve really hung our hat on defense because our offense has been come-and-go; defense has been our staple,” guard Kent Bazemore said. “We had to adapt in order to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Guard Kyle Korver said the Hawks were on a west coast trip in January when they realized that they needed to evolve into a defensive-minded team. Opponents had adjusted to Atlanta’s style of offense.

“The ship was turning, like this big, huge Carnival cruise ship,” Korver said.

The Hawks mission in the East semis is pretty clear. They have to make James see a crowd when he has the ball and they have to win one-on-one defensive matchups with the other four players on the floor.

“The way we’re playing defense right now is really going to play a large part how we contain him,” Bazemore said. “We have our methods to try and slow him down.”

Forward Paul Millsap said the Hawks have to run the Cavaliers off the three-point line and keep them off the glass, which Atlanta has not done in the past seven meetings between the teams. Bazemore was pretty clear what Cleveland did to the Hawks on the glass in the 2015 East finals.

“They mauled us,” Bazemore said.

The Hawks have to be active and play position defense. They also have to be alert for James’ passes when he is surrounded and have high hands for deflections. Millsap and center Al Horford have been springing down the lane to block shots when a teammate loses a player on defense.

The Cavs want to make the series fit for a circus arcade, you know, the exploding scoreboard. The Hawks want to make the series arcane, the mysteries of defensive schemes. They want to muddle up Cleveland’s superior offensive firepower.

“There has to be an understanding that our defense has to be really good,” Korver said.