Cavs prepare with Wright stuff

The ex- Hawk could prove to be a valuable source as Cleveland strives for a long postseason run.

By BRIAN WINDHORST

The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers now know they have the Atlanta Hawks and a secret weapon.

As the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs will be the heavy favorite against the Hawks, who earned a spot in the conference semifinals for the first time in 10 years with a 91-78 Game 7 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday.

But the postseason is one constant search for every edge and the Cavs feel like they have one in Lorenzen Wright.

Out for the season with a broken thumb, Wright is still going to play a role in this series, which starts with Tuesday’s Game 1 at Quicken Loans Arena.

Wright has played four seasons in his career with the Hawks and was there for all of the 2006-07 season and half of last season before being traded.

He has a depth of knowledge of all the team’s key players and its system under coach Mike Woodson. In fact, Wright still maintains communication and friendship with many of the Hawks.

“I talk to those guys all the time,” Wright said Sunday after the Cavs finished a night practice, waiting until their opponent was established before starting intense preparation.

“I was talking to them during the whole series when they were playing Miami. I’m very happy for them that they made it out of the first round; that was a goal of ours last season when we were trying to make the playoffs.

“I sent Coach Woodson a congratulations. But they’re going to have to get ready for us now.”

And vice versa, which is where Wright will be swinging into action. Though the Cavs have the Hawks heavily scouted, he has special knowledge of many players’ preferences and personalities. Especially big men Al Horford, Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia, whom he went against numerous times in practice.

“I’ve been talking to all my teammates, I know a lot about their big men and what they do down low,” Wright said. “I played a lot with Josh and Zaza and Al and I know their games. I’ll most definitely be giving some input.”

The part he’ll make public is what many see as the Hawks’ primary strength and weakness. They have extreme athleticism, more than the Cavs, but they sometimes struggle in slowdown halfcourt situations at both ends.

“Taking care of the ball is so important so they can’t get out in transition,” Wright said. “We have to play old school basketball; they are a young team and they want to play park basketball and run up and down the floor. We can’t let them get out and throw down dunks and windmills and between-the-leg dunks.”

The rest of the Cavs got serious about that approach Sunday with a practice that lasted longer than three hours.

The Hawks are still somewhat of a mystery because two starters are banged up. Horford has a sprained ankle and played through it at less than 100 percent on Sunday. Normal starting forward Marvin Williams played just five minutes in the last five games against the Heat with a wrist injury.

The Cavs took three of four meetings during the regular season and were 2-0 in Cleveland.

“It is not even about who we are playing it is we know when we are playing now,” LeBron James said. “It’s a brand new series and a brand new season, no one [cares] what you do during the regular season when the playoffs start.”