Hawks playing with house money in Eastern title clash with LeBron, Cavs
ATLANTA -- Forget how the Hawks (franchise-best 60 wins) have long held the top seed in the Eastern Conference and own the home-court playoff edge, as well.
Forget how Atlanta enters this stage of the postseason essentially injury-free (excluding Thabo Sefolosha's well-chronicled malady) ... compared to Cleveland's bruised and battered playing rotation.
And forget how Atlanta reserve Kent Bazemore has had some difficulty sleeping of late, due to the high anticipation of Game 1.
From the Hawks' general perspective, the Eastern finals represent the most pressure-free series they'll encounter during the postseason -- including the next round -- for one primary reason:
For the playoffs, LeBron James always gets the benefit of the doubt with media pundits and casual NBA observers.
This playoff round marks the fifth straight year that LeBron has reached the Eastern finals (four with Miami, one with Cleveland) -- just two visits shy of Chauncey Billups' modern-day record of seven consecutive berths in the conference finals (2003-08 with Detroit, 2009 with Denver).
And within that span, King James advanced to the NBA finals each time -- leading the Heat to four finals berths (2011-14) and capturing two world championships in the process (2012-13).
In other words, the folks of NBA Nation have grown accustomed to observing LeBron in the league's showcase event -- The Finals.
So, why make a case against that occurring for a fifth consecutive season ... against an unselfish, up-tempo but largely unheralded Hawks team?
Even though Atlanta has a supreme chance to pull off a series surprise.
And so it begins.
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For the regular season, Cleveland (103.1 points per game) and Atlanta (102.5 ppg) ranked 8th and 10th, respectively, in per-outing scoring -- comfortably among the 15 clubs which averaged in the triple digits from November to April.
And for the postseason, the Hawks (99.8 points per game) and Cavaliers (99.6 ppg) currently rank 8th and 9th in per-outing scoring.
The mini-conclusion here: The dual arts of prodigious scoring and tempo acceleration don't necessarily die out during the postseason -- especially when both teams are properly motivated to push the proverbial envelope.
"I think there are some myths about the playoffs that aren't altogether true," said Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer on Tuesday, generally debunking the question of how playoff games ostensibly warrant a slower pace.
Prior to that, the coach also said, "As much as possible, we want to continue to play at a high pace."
Of course, pace of play doesn't guarantee a close result, even if both clubs are sold on the premise. Of the four Hawks-Cavaliers meetings during the regular season (with Atlanta going 3-1 in the series), not a single game had a final-score spread of less than eight points.
In fact, the first two outings (with LeBron and the Hawks' regulars in the lineup) had spreads of 33 and 29 points -- with Cleveland and Atlanta splitting the blowout victories.
Speaking of LeBron, who absurdly averaged 25.3 points, 7.4 assists (both team highs), 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals during the regular season ... he cleared the 22-point mark just once against Atlanta this year (three outings) -- perhaps prioritizing the act of getting his teammates more involved.
Or, maybe it had something to do with the physical machinations of Hawks defender DeMarre Carroll.
"DeMarre's got a big heart, a lot of big dog in him ... he's going to fight," said Bazermore of Carroll, who helped force James into nine turnovers (and just 18 points) in the Hawks' March 6 victory over the Cavaliers. "Obviously, LeBron's a great player, but DeMarre's going to work."
Playing into the hype, Bazemore admits to having some healthy anxiety leading up to Wednesday's tip-off, in terms of sleep deprivation. At the same time, he hardly views the opener as some passive prelude to a potentially long and thrilling series.
"I don't know if (Wednesday) will be a feel-out game, maybe more straight punching," says Bazemore, a skilled perimeter defender with per-outing averages of 17.7 minutes during the playoffs.
At first blush, the Cavaliers have three significant advantages heading into the series: The best two players on the court (James and point guard extraordinaire Kyrie Irving) ... and a great disparity with offensive rebounds.
(During the regular season, Cleveland ranked 11th in offensive boards, while Atlanta finished last in that category.)
But with Kevin Love (shoulder injury) gone for the postseason, does Cleveland still own a decisive edge on the boards?
Enter Tristan Thompson, the fourth-year stalwart (No. 4 overall pick in 2011) who has averaged 12 rebounds in his last five playoff outings -- all against Chicago -- including 17 in the series-clinching victory in Game 6.
"(Thompson's) commitment to the offensive boards is one thing that really stands out," says Budenholzer, who believes it'll take a "team effort" to neutralize Thompson, center Timofey Mosgov and James near the glass.
For what it's worth, LeBron boasts a robust average of 10.2 rebounds during the playoffs.
"It's important we try to limit (LeBron), and make it difficult for him," says Budenholzer. "And I think we're looking forward to that challenge."
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Over the next two weeks, FOX Sports South readers will be inundated by a mountain of stats -- supporting and deriding the Hawks' chances of reaching the NBA Finals.
In the meantime, we'll just focus on two noteworthy stats, and then move on from there:
1) In the four games against Cleveland, All-Star forward Paul Millsap averaged 18 points and eight rebounds, while shooting 55 percent from the field.
2) The Hawks averaged 10.7 made three-pointers in their three seasonal victories against the Cavaliers -- including an eye-popping 16 from Atlanta's 29-point road rout (Dec. 17).
Bottom line: It's hard to pinpoint ways in which the Cavaliers will suppress Millsap's dribble-drive excellence and perimeter-oriented versatility.
By extension, it's impossible to imagine Kyle Korver draining only 12 three-pointers -- his total count vs. Washington -- in an extended series with Cleveland.
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No coach or player, of course, would vouch for this publicly:
Of the remaining four remaining playoff teams (Atlanta, Golden State, Houston, Cleveland), the Hawks had the easiest sub-bracket in the first two rounds -- grouped with the lowly Nets (six games below .500), Raptors (swept away in Round 1) and Washington Wizards (John Wall sat out thee games during the Eastern semis).
And while the Hawks should be commended for knocking out the Nets and Wizards in six -- thus avoiding a Game 7 in both instances -- the club must have felt internal pressure to succeed, knowing the talent/production disparities for both rounds were substantial.
After all, prior to last week, the Hawks had never reached a conference final since the NBA revamped its playoff format during the 1970-71 season.
But that's all in the past. With the simple matchup of LeBron and the Cavaliers, it doesn't matter that Atlanta has the higher seed.
Or holds the home-court advantage.
Or has the better injury outlook.
Or has more All-Stars (four total), compared to the Cavaliers' starting five.
Or has better shooters and greater size/versatility/depth in the frontcourt.
(Exhibit A: Al Horford, who stealthily averaged a LeBron-esque 16.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the Wizards series, just got his first mention in this article.)
Or has the more experienced head coach -- on paper.
Or exhibits superior spacing during half-court offensive sets.
Or has more desire to push the tempo and essentially run the beat-up Cavaliers off the court.
So many empirical advantages for Atlanta ... even though not everyone will take notice until after the Hawks advance to the NBA Finals.
