The 2nd Round of the NBA Playoffs have kicked off with the Cleveland Cavaliers starting their’s tomorrow.
The Cavs did exactly what King James Gospel expected them to in the opening round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs by sweeping the Detroit Pistons.
Now, the Cavaliers will play the Atlanta Hawks in the Conference Semi-Finals starting Monday May 2nd.
For Cleveland fans, this round should make you happier than the last. The Atlanta Hawks are coming off of a 4-2 series win over the Boston Celtics that was much more competitive than the results show. If it wasn’t for an injury to Celtics’ guard, Isaiah Thomas, this series could have easily gone the other way.
This plays in perfect favor of the Cavaliers. Coming off of a week of rest, the Cavaliers will have almost zero wear and tear heading into Game 1 with Atlanta while the Hawks will only have three days rest. Now, you can’t count out the Hawks right away. They are on a four-game winning streak. Even against a Celtics team who was beat up and didn’t look sharp towards the end of the season, the Hawks proved they weren’t the irrelevant team most thought they were.
Unfortunately, for the Hawks they’re going to become irrelevant once they step into the Q. It’s hard to say that the Hawks have much of a shot when they don’t seem to have any players to match up with the Cavaliers’ stars.
Who is going to be able to slow down LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love? No one. You cannot expect Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague to guard the Cavaliers big three for an entire game successfully. It could be a risky strategy, but if the Cavaliers plan to approach this series like the last and play LeBron, Irving, and Love extended minutes, it should make the Hawks’ chances of winning slim to none.
Individually, if Kyrie Irving plays the way he did last series, it’s over before it starts. 27.5 PPG was exactly what the Cavaliers wished they had last postseason. It’s in the past though, and the present is looking bright for the Cavs. Honestly, it’s hard to say that the Hawks will even win a game during this series.
Even Twitter doesn’t give the Hawks a chance. The results of a poll placed on Twitter asking the following question, “If the @Cavs win their next series vs. the Hawks what will the outcome be?” showed that 50% of the voters believed the Cavaliers will win the series 4-0.
For my Bold Prediction for @KJGCavaliers. if the @cavs win their next series vs the Hawks what will the outcome be?
— noah.eth (@NoahStrack) April 30, 2016
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It isn’t a surprise though. The Cavaliers came into their opening series against the Pistons losing three out of four regular season games and showed they aren’t there to fool around. Nothing should be different this series. Realistically, matchup wise this series is more lopsided than the Pistons. Because of this, the Cavaliers should have an easy sweep.
Everyone would like to give the Hawks credit for winning four straight against the Celtics and winning the series. Unfortunately, they just don’t have the team to win against the Cavs.
This will be an easy series for Cleveland. A 4-0 sweep should be the outcome. Look for Cleveland to use their stars just like they did against Detroit and head into the Conference Finals with ease.
What is your prediction for the Cavs next series in the NBA Playoffs?