When the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Atlanta Hawks in the East Finals tomorrow night, LeBron James will be facing a familiar foe. The Hawks are the San Antonio Spurs of the Eastern Conference and we all know what happened last year when LeBron took on the Spurs in the Playoffs: His team folded like a cheap suit.
That is what makes the Hawks such a big concern for the Cavs. They are coached by former Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, who has brought over much of what made the Spurs a dynasty. While they don’t have the Hall of Fame caliber players like Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli or Tim Duncan, yet, they have a collection of players that help make the Spurs-like system run.
Jeff Teague is not the penetrator that Parker is, his shot has drastically improved and he can break down defenders at a high level. Al Horford is a versatile, talented big man who can score in the post and is a solid passer. Kyle Korver provides the deep, knockdown shooting that Danny Green does at the 2 guard. DeMarre Carroll is a poor man’s version of Kawhi Leonard with solid defense and an improved offensive game.
While the Spurs lack a Ginobli like player, Paul Milsap and Dennis Schroder provide dynamic playmaking for the Hawks. Much like the Spurs, the Hawks also have shooting coming over their bench with Kent Bazemore and big men Mike Scott and Pero Antic.
The Spurs beat the Heat with an offense that moved the ball and got players out of position. This taxed LeBron and the rest of the aging Heat players. While the Cavs are younger, the Hawks ball movement could put pressure on James and limit the Cavs use of James Jones and cause issues with limping Kyrie Irving.
On defense, the Spurs and Hawks use a similar system. They look to take stars like LeBron out with solid team defense that dares shooters to take bad shots out of rhythm. LeBron got sucked in to that last year in the NBA Finals.
Some of that was true in the Cavs match-up with the Hawks in the regular season. LeBron sat out one of the Cavs losses. In the Cavs lone win he shot a great 13-20 in only 29 minutes. In their two losses is where the concerns rise. He shot 50% from the field but settled for some mid-range shots and went 0-2 from deep in one game, a 29 point blowout loss. In the other loss he shot a poor 5-13, with 1-4 from the 3 point line. The Hawks methods, similar to the Spurs, caused some problems for the Cavs star.
With Kyrie hobbled, LeBron will once again be forced to carry the load for the Cavs. Against the Bulls, LeBron fell into their trap with a lot of isolation, jab steps and poor step back shots. When the Cavs took control of games, the ball was moving and so were players.
If LeBron learned his lesson from from last year’s debacle with the Spurs in the NBA Finals, the Cavs will have a great chance to take out the Hawks quickly. If he finds himself reverting to the 1 on 5 LeBron that struggled at multiples times in his two go arounds with the Cavs, expect a very tight and tough series.
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The Hawks will also stress the Cavs swarming defense. They are willing to give up good shots for great shots, make the extra pass and keep both the ball and players moving. These type of offenses often lead to open shots against the very aggressive Cavs defense. With Korver an elite shooter, Teague a good one at the point, Milsap and Horford good shooters for their position, the Hawks have shooters at multiple positions. There bench can also give the Cavs some trouble with their shooting and the speed of Schroder.
While we believe in the Cavs strongly against the Hawks, looking back at last year’s Spurs dismantling of LeBron’s Heat creates some concerns. LeBron and James Jones should be able to provide some words of wisdom for the Cavs. The ball movement, the defensive scheme and the quality of the Hawks’ players means this can be a very tough series. Learning from the past to beat the Spurs East is an important factor starting tomorrow night.
Does the Spurs like nature of the Hawks worry you in the East Finals?