Hawks at Cavaliers
The Atlanta Hawks were no match for Cleveland during last season's
Eastern Conference finals and attempt to put up a better fight this time
around when they meet the Cavaliers in the conference semifinals. The
quest begins Monday in Cleveland and the Hawks certainly haven't
forgotten that they were swept last season and suffered a 30-point
shellacking in the final game of the series.
Forward LeBron James operated at will in the conference finals by averaging 30.3 points, 11 rebounds and 9.3 assists. James continued his dominance of the Hawks this season with averages of 27.3 points, 11 rebounds and 7.8 assists in three games - all won by Cleveland - but isn't expecting another cakewalk. "Nothing is easy in the postseason," James told reporters. "There's too much work, both on the floor and mentally that you have to do to prepare for a playoff series understanding how the competition is going to be at its highest level. Easy should never even come into play when you're talking about playoff basketball or basketball in general at this level." The Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in the opening round while Atlanta ousted the Boston Celtics in a six-game series.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE HAWKS: Small forward Kent Bazemore will be under the microscope after averaging 14 points and seven rebounds in the series against Boston as he will draw the defensive assignment of slowing down James. Bazemore hasn't been shy about criticizing James in the past and is one of the Atlanta players who has a chip on his shoulders due to last season's playoff beat down. "You got to amp yourself up and you can't go in humble, I guess," Bazemore told reporters. "You got to make yourself angry and do whatever you got to do to accept that challenge, because he is a freight train and brings it and comes with everything he has, so you have to do the same to hang in there."
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: Point guard Kyrie Irving was superb during the sweep of the Pistons and topped 30 points twice while averaging 27.5 for the series. Irving knocked down the big shots as he continues to show that someday he will be the team's undisputed closer instead of sharing the role with James. "At the end of the day we have two of the best closers in the game playing on one team," Irving told reporters. "You have a 6-8 monster who can penetrate and get anywhere he wants on the floor, and then myself having that confidence in those situations. Regardless of who the play is drawn up for, that's up to (coach Tyronn Lue)."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks C Al Horford averaged just 8.5 points in the final four games of the Boston series after averaging 20.5 points in the first two contests.
2. Cleveland PF Kevin Love averaged 18.8 points and 12 rebounds in the sweep of Detroit and recorded a double-double in each game.
3. Atlanta PF Paul Millsap scored a playoff career-best 45 points in one game in the Boston series and averaged just 10.6 points in the other five games.