Conference Finals Bold Prediction: Cavaliers Sweep Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks may have had an impressive season finishing 60-22 and atop the Southeast Division. Making their way to the Eastern Conference Finals with surprising ease, the Hawks slipped past teams without any noise. (Editor’s Note: There were slight hiccups in the NBA Playoffs but far shorter than others.) It seemed as though everyone has forgotten about the once league leading Hawks as they have made their way through Brooklyn and Washington to play the Cleveland Cavaliers for a chance at the East title. Although the Hawks have impressively beaten two high powered teams throughout their playoff run, they may find that the Cavaliers are to much for them.
The Cavaliers have overcome two drastic injuries this postseason and stilled managed to impressively beat Boston and Chicago. Through many parts of the Cavaliers’ postseason there seemed as if the Cavs weren’t going to make it past a game. Between the early game struggles against the Celtics to injuries of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, it seemed as if there chances to win kept getting worse and worse.
For the Hawks, they seemed to breeze through their first two rounds and with little attention brought to them. The story lines for each series seemed to focus more on “Deron Williams struggles,” and “John Wall’s injury,” rather than the red hot Hawks. Even in this upcoming series against the Cavs there is little notice of Atlanta. Ask anyone who the Cavaliers are playing, most people won’t even know. It’s almost as though the Hawks are invisible this postseason which may be true come Wednesday.
As close as these teams’ records may be, the Cavaliers are as sharp as any team right now. Since LeBron’s demoralizing game-winner against the Bulls in Game 4, the Cavaliers have become the dominating team they could be. It seemed that even with the injuries, that LeBron’s shot woke the Cavaliers up and they realized how overpowering they can be. Because of this, the Hawks may want to be just as invisible as they are to outliers.
Now, there a virtually no stats to back up the Cavs having any chance in this series. The Hawks have the Cavaliers beat in every statistic, good or bad, this postseason except blocks per game (Cavaliers 7.6 BPG, Hawks 5.58 BPG). That doesn’t mean that the Cavaliers aren’t going to dominate this series.
The Cavaliers beat the Bulls in a 4-2 series win while averaging 96.7 points per game. During the entire 2014-2015 season, the Bulls lead the league in points allowed with 92.6 PPG. This is supported even more by their impressive 94-73 victory in Game 6.
The Cavaliers should not win this series. Behind every statistic and fact sheet, they don’t have any chance of winning. This isn’t the first time this has happened either. The Bulls had the Cavaliers beat in every statistic besides points per game and blocks per game. If you simply went off of stats this postseason, the Cavs wouldn’t be much of a contender.
The Cavs don’t play to stats though. Watching them play, you watch a team who comes into games knowing they have a chance to be great and when they fall behind they fight back like they know they’re great. This team has swagger, and yes I used the word “swagger.” It’s like they know that no matter what they’re going to win the game and if they don’t win they still know they’re going to win the series. This is all because they have the best player in basketball.
"“Give me the ball, we’re either going to go to overtime or I’m going to win it for us.” -LeBron James"
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It’s that easy for them. When the game is on the line, the Cavalier can give LeBron the ball and he’s going to make something happen. That’s why they are able to play with no nerves throughout the postseason.
On Wednesday, May 20th, the Hawks walk into the Eastern Conference Finals as a possible even opponent to the Cavaliers. To bad for them, the Cavaliers are as good as they’ve been all season and LeBron isn’t going to allow them to make this series close. Having to play one of two very hot teams in the Warriors or Rockets in the NBA Finals, the Cavs won’t be looking to drag this series out. On Wednesday, May 20, watch as the Cavaliers begin their path to a series sweep over the Hawks, and their journey to the NBA Finals.