PREVIEW: Cavaliers take on struggling Hawks in Sunday afternoon showdown

1. Pretty basic… effort

Against teams that are perceived to be in the lower echelon of the league (see: Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic) the Cavaliers have not yet sustained effort for a full 48 minutes. But against the teams that are better overall, (Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards) the Cavs elevate their game.

The Hawks are clearly undermanned, as you can tell from their injury report. During his pregame availability, head coach Tyronn Lue says he doesn’t even like telling his guys when another team is depleted because they “aren’t good with that stuff.” Overall, the Cavs need to work on maintaining their effort on Sunday and continue to build on some of their good habits from Friday’s game in Washington.

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