Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks: Position-by-Position Preview

Mar 6, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward

(23) dunks the ball against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

It was simply meant to be: the Eastern Conference’s number one seeded team, the Atlanta Hawks, will square off against the Eastern Conference’s number two seeded team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After months of debating and arguing who truly is the best team in the East, these two teams will now settle things, with Game One tipping off on Wednesday Night in Atlanta.

Both teams have had quite different paths to get to the NBA’s Final Four, as the Hawks battled through two surprisingly tough series’ with the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, while the Cavs took down two rivals in the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls. The Hawks needed six games in each series to take care of the Nets and Wizards, as Atlanta unexpectedly struggled with both outfits. Cleveland swept the Celtics out of the playoffs while taking down the Bulls in a physical (but fair) six game series.

The clash of play-styles between the two teams is extremely intriguing. The Cavs and Hawks both have an excellent offense but run them very differently. Atlanta strongly relies on ball and player movement, as they have no true superstar. This resulted in the Hawks being dubbed as the Spurs of the East and it’s no shock to see them first in assists per game during the playoffs, with 25.4. Conversely, the Cavs rely strongly on their individual talent and tend to play a lot more isolation basketball. Out of the four remaining playoff teams, the Cavaliers rank last in assists per game during the playoffs, with a lowly 18.1. Despite this, Cleveland still has a better offensive rating then the Hawks during the post-season, as the Cavs have a whopping 108.2 offensive rating, with Atlanta still having an impressive rating of 102.0.

This series also presents mouth-watering individual match-ups at each position. Will Kyrie Irving’s injury allow Jeff Teague to be the better point guard in this series? Can DeMarre Carroll limit the impact of LeBron James? How will Timofey Mozgov handle Al Horford?

Let’s explore which team has the advantage at each position.