FoS Talk: ECF Cleveland Cavaliers vs Atlanta Hawks

The Eastern Conference Finals set to begin Wednesday night, so here is a special early edition of FoS Talk: ECF Cleveland Cavaliers vs Atlanta Hawks. The FoS staff is very excited for the start of the ECF, as we express our thoughts and opinions regarding what to look out for and what is the key match up that will determine this series. The Cleveland Cavaliers won eight games so far and eight games to go is all that stands in the way from a championship we all have waited for a very long time!

Nick Dudukovich

I think this series hinges on point guard play. We all know Kyrie Irving’s hurting. Can he be productive as he was in Game 5 against the Bulls? It’s that simple, because if he’s on the court, the Cavs have to two best players on the floor.

As for the Hawks— look at Jeff Teague’s stat line from Atlanta’s two losses to the Wizards. He was 9-of-29 from the field. Even in a Game 3 win, he was 3-of-12 from the floor. If he wants to have three miserable games like that, the Cavs should take this series easily.

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Second, is the defense of Al Horford? They really don’t have just one or two players that need special attention. But Horford is a key to their rebounding and second shot chances. The Cavaliers defense, whether it be Tristan Thompson or whomever, needs to negate his roll in their offense and defense. The entire defense must stand up like they did against the Chicago Bulls.

Kris Grimes

For the Cavaliers the key match up will be whomever from the Atlanta Hawks is guarding LeBron James. Without backup defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha, the defensive game plan of the Hawks will be to use a lot of DeMarre Carroll and double teams.

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If the Cavaliers can get LeBron on Kyle Korver via screens on the offensive end, I think LeBron has a chance to really make a huge difference in the series. Of course Kyrie’s health and play does matter too as the Hawks do have speedy PG’s and like to use 2 PG sets with Teague as the SG.

However I just believe the key to this series is once again LeBron James. If he plays like vintage LeBron and goes for 30-7-7, the Hawks don’t have the player or players to match him. The injury to Sefolosha means more double teams, and LeBron will be able to find open team mates as a result.

I think of the current Hawks like the Cavs teams of the late 80’s & early 90’s, and these Cavs as the Bulls with Jordan. Sorry Atlanta, but if LeBron is LeBron, it’s going to be a tough series.

Ryan Rosko

I am going to go in another direction. Atlanta is a very versatile team, with some similarities to the Spurs, Atlanta’s head coach’s Mike Budenholzer old team as an assistant. The Hawks are going to shoot from three and long two’s a lot. I am looking forward to Timofey Mozgov going up against their bigs, Al Horford and Paul Millsap on both sides on the court.

Despite Mozgov’s obvious size advantage, he make a great amount of his free throws and shoots well away from the basket. His game does not get as much credit as he may deserve at times but he should continue to make a big impact.

Next: 2015 NBA Playoffs: 5 Reasons Why The Cleveland Cavaliers Will Beat The Atlanta Hawks

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