LeBron James to miss opportunity to play against Atlanta Hawks in preseason

The Atlanta Hawks will travel to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday, but will face a Cavaliers team without their centerpiece LeBron James.

4-time NBA MVP LeBron James tweaked his left ankle during the Cavaliers practice after an accidental misstep on Cedi Osman’s foot. Although the injury isn’t a serious one by any means, it was reported that James will sit out the during the game against the Hawks.

Related Story: Atlanta Hawks postgame reaction from first preseason contest

So, what does this mean for the Atlanta Hawks? Well for one we won’t get to see Taurean Prince match up against the 13-time All-Star, so it is likely that we will see him switch onto new Cavalier Jae Crowder. Crowder is a formidable force himself at the 3 or the 4, so Prince will have his hands full nonetheless.

More emphasis will likely be placed on the point guard battle between Dennis Schroder and Derrick Rose. The Cavaliers have yet to develop much team chemistry as of yet, and the Hawks also still need to find their feet before the season starts. A preseason contest sans LeBron James might be good for the Hawks, as they will have a greater chance of keeping the score close.

Although the Cavaliers won’t be able to play their small ball lineup of death with LeBron at the 5, they will still try out some new formations, like playing Kevin Love at center.

This gives the opportunity to see how Hawks centers Dewayne Dedmon and John Collins will guard Love, seeing as he will look to stretch the floor with his knockdown three-point ability.

Next: Dewayne Dedmon will be more valuable than people think

Hawks fans will be disappointed that they won’t be able to see King James take the court with the Hawks, but there are narratives aplenty still to take from the game.