Atlanta Hawks-Cavaliers Series Will Go Seven Games
By Josh Wilson
Who isn’t excited for the conference finals? I know I sure am. It’s the next best thing, sitting next to the Finals, the finale between the two best remaining teams from each side of the bracket.
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While most people are more excited for the Western Conference matchup between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors, I’m actually more intrigued in the other side, the Eastern Conference matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers.
After watching both of these teams play in the playoffs as well as the regular season, I’m confident this series will go the full seven games. I just don’t get that same feeling with the Western Conference side of things.
It’s definitely fitting that these two will meet up with each other, being the teams that hold the top two spots in the Eastern Conference. They proved their worth for these spots throughout the year, combining for only 51 losses throughout the regular season, better than a good chunk of teams on their own.
On the Cavaliers side, they have huge momentum going into this series following winning three straight against the Bulls, and blowing them out of the water in the final game.
Although Atlanta also won three in a row, it wasn’t without incredibly hard fought games from the Washington Wizards, and games where Al Horford admitted they did not play well, and even might not have deserved to win. He even responded with “I don’t know,” when asked how they won Game 5.
The Hawks, although they didn’t look stable by any means against Washington, seem like they can recuperate and become a team ready to play for their ticket to the Finals.
One of my favorite parts of the series is how polarized the two teams can be in some areas, even down to the age of the two teams. The Cavaliers’ average seasons played per player is 11.8, and the Hawks are a small 5.06. This is a huge gap between the two, as the Cavs more than double the Hawks.
The Cavaliers generally have a solid five players, while the Hawks run a deeper rotation, and aren’t afraid to sit their starters to give their bench a good chunk of playing time. It’s certainly not uncommon to see Dennis Schroder play 30 minutes, and some of the other bench players get 15 minutes.
Marc Stein of ESPN put it best when he said the Hawks have continuity. One of my favorite things about their substitutions is it doesn’t seem like anyone new comes on the floor when they sub in. Their bench players can pick up right where the starters left off, and that’s so important in the playoffs.
Shroder is able to make you forget that Jeff Teague is off the floor when he subs in for him, just like he did against the Celtics in this game.
While the Cavaliers have J.R. Smith, who often gets more than 30 minutes, and Matthew Dellavedova, who occasionally sees the latter half of 20, they don’t seem to have as much of an impact as the continuous substitutions that the Hawks use.
For instance, Dellavedova only scored seven points in Games 4 and 5. Now, Schroder puts up similar numbers to Smith, but it really seems like the substitutions are incredibly more impactful and effective for the Hawks.
The overall offensive schemes are different. While the Cavaliers put the ball in the hands of very specific players, the Hawks spread things out. What stuns me most looking at the Hawks is not a single player on the Hawks roster averaged more than 20 points per game this year, all because of how much they move the ball and really share the rock.
Meanwhile, the Cavs have LeBron and Kyrie that both average more than 20, with the runner-up to them only getting 16.
The Cavaliers only had 58.7 percent of their made field goals assisted this year, but the Hawks had 67.6 percent assisted this year, true proof of their ball movement skills. I’m not saying one is necessarily right or wrong (although I love good ball movement), I’m just saying the two teams are very polarized.
There are some similarities. In the paint, they both average around the same amount of points per game. Cleveland’s offensive efficiency is a 1.07, and the Hawks are at a 1.05, within 2 percent of each other.
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But back to differences, what comes along with this polarization of the two teams? They have to figure each other out. It’s like a chess match. I’ve played several against my brother, and they’re long and grueling, because my brother and I play the game so differently.
I have to spend several moves simply trying to pick apart his brain, and see his game plan, all before I even have an attack scheme in mind.
It’s then, and only then, that I’m able to really attack and come after his king. Only once I know how he will react, and how to defend against his attacks. It takes a lot of familiarity time, and that’s what this series will take, since the teams can be so different in so many aspects.
These two teams, although they met four times in the regular season, are different teams in the playoffs. They will need to spend the first few games getting familiar, and they will almost certainly go back and forth.
As much as they can watch tape on each other, and try to figure each other out before hand, nothing gets you familiar like up close and personal basketball.
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