The final day of the NBA regular season was too kind to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Atlanta Hawks chose to rest their starters, leaving the door wide open for the Toronto Raptors to secure the No. 5 seed with a home win over the bottom-feeding Brooklyn Nets.
While it's not unusual to see teams actively dodge other clubs by tanking the final game of the season, the Hawks may have done the Cavs a big favor. They will now face the Raptors in the first round, and that should be an easier matchup, at least on paper.
Quin Snyder and the Hawks, on the other hand, will now try their luck against a New York Knicks team that, although it hasn't been as consistent this season, has already been battle-tested multiple years in the playoffs.
The Hawks would've been a nightmare matchup for the Cavs
For most of the past couple of years, the Cavs have struggled against big ball-handlers. The Luka Doncics, Jayson Tatums, and Cade Cunninghams give them trouble; they don't have someone who can consistently shut down a wing with handles and creating ability or a big and physical point guard.
The Hawks have a big, switchable team. And even though the Cavs did a solid job against Jalen Johnson in the last couple of matchups, he's the type of big-bodied, do-it-all wing that often gives them nightmares.
Of course, this is not to say that they should just look down on the Raptors and go through the motions. They're a pesky team with nothing to lose; they're already playing with house money and no pressure at all, unlike the Cavs.
That being said, even with a big ball-handling player of their own in Scottie Barnes, the Raptors don't have the offensive firepower to keep up with the Cavaliers. Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram, and RJ Barrett can all have big scoring nights, but they usually take turns.
Per Basketball Reference, the Raptors rank right in the middle of the pack in offensive rating (115.9, 15th), free-throw attempts per game (23.4, 15th), and are 24th in total rebounds per game (42.1). They don't have the size to match up with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen at the same time, and even if they're a good defensive team, this is a shooter's league.
The Cavs have a long, well-documented history of playoff meltdowns, so they can't afford to look past any opponent. Also, they dropped all three games vs. the Raptors this season. Still, the Hawks would've definitely been a more complicated matchup.
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