Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 Keys To Beating The Hawks

4. Attack The Offensive Glass

For all their versatility, Atlanta’s Millsap-Horford duo can only do so much on the glass, which helps explain why the Hawks were the NBA’s 24th ranked rebounding team this season. The Cavaliers should exploit that weakness with Tristan Thompson, an offensive rebounding specialist who’s being paid $82 million over five years to do just that.

During the regular season, the Hawks surrendered the fourth most offensive rebounds to opponents at 11.5 per game. Cleveland wasn’t a prolific offensive rebounding team during the regular season, but as the league’s eighth leading offensive rebounder, Thompson can really do some damage by crashing the boards.

With the Cavs finding their long range stroke in the first round and Atlanta being so proficient at limiting opponents from three-point territory, you can be guaranteed there might be a few long rebounds that will turn into 50-50 balls. If Thompson and the rest of the Cavs can turn those misses into second chance points, their rebounding advantage could wind up being a huge factor.

Next: No. 3