Eastern Conference Finals 2015: Examining Cavaliers' Sweep over Hawks
The Cleveland Cavaliers will make their second NBA Finals appearance under LeBron James' watch after sweeping the Atlanta Hawks during a swift Eastern Conference Finals.
Back with his original club, James will take the Cavaliers right back to the championship after four straight losing campaigns without him. For the fifth straight year and sixth time in nine playoffs, he leads the Eastern Conference representative.
Atlanta, who earned a conference-high 60 wins during the regular season, unraveled to culminate an already shaky postseason. Injuries to several starters derailed its chances of ending James' Finals monopoly.
The Hawks held their own in all but a one-sided Game 4, most notably taking the Cavs to overtime in Game 3. Yet Cleveland, the heavy favorite, now awaits the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets. Here's a look back at the series highlights.
Everybody Hurts
When looking back on this postseason, the series will be remembered mostly as a bridge to an expected result. Cleveland became the favorites the moment Sports Illustrated unveiled James' announcement last July.
Time will eventually wash away other details, particularly a sea of stars suffering injuries throughout the series. While the Cavs persevered, the Hawks couldn't recover.
Forward DeMarre Carroll, the breakout forward tasked with slowing down James, sustained a knee injury during the series opener. He surprised everyone by returning for Game 2, yet he was clearly bothered by the ailment.
During the first two rounds, Carroll scored 17.1 points per game with a 52.4 field-goal percentage. Against Cleveland, those numbers plummeted to 7.0 points and 32.4 percent shooting.
Al Horford (knee) and Paul Millsap (shoulder) were also banged up, but losing Kyle Korver especially sunk any small chance Atlanta held. The All-Star shooter suffered an ankle injury mid-series that concluded his playoff run. Per 82games.com, the Hawks functioned much smoother offensively with him running through screens and nailing daggers from downtown:
| OFF RTG | 114.5 | 103.7 |
| EFF FG % | 55.7 | 47.7 |
Nobody, however, can laud Cleveland's good fortune. Kevin Love's first postseason appearance was cut short with a shoulder injury, and Kyrie Irving missed Games 2 and 3 due to nagging foot problems.
Despite noticeably limping during Game 3, James stayed on the court, at one point signaling for a substitution in overtime before abruptly changing his mind. Through pain, he gutted out an impressive, if not entirely efficient, showing.
LeBron's Dominant Slump
With Love and Irving down, James was suddenly forced into an uncomfortably familiar situation. It was up to him to lead Cleveland to the NBA Finals with no supporting star. The four-time MVP delivered, averaging 30.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 9.3 rebounds through the sweep.
Bleacher Report's Howard Beck noted the historic significance of James' fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals:
Anybody else would proudly claim that stretch as the best of his life. For James, he actually posted those numbers through a shooting funk. He shot a humdrum 43.8 percent while netting five of 20 three-point attempts, bringing his postseason three-point percentage to a ghastly 16.1.
Game 3 personified his uneven postseason. Despite missing his first 10 attempts, James finished with 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists during Cleveland's overtime victory. With Irving sidelined, James took an inordinate amount of shots, as highlighted by Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver:
Had James not clocked out early in Game 4's blowout win, he would have likely garnered the three assists needed to average a 30-11-10 triple-double during the sweep. The fact he can do that despite not playing his best basketball is a scary thought.
Defense Wins Conference Finals
Continuing their strong defensive play, the Cavaliers allowed 92.5 points per game, yielding fewer than 90 points in all but the overtime affair. Entering the Finals, they have surrendered 92.6 points per contest through 14 playoff bouts.
For defensive purposes, playing without Irving proved a blessing in disguise. In his absence, Matthew Dellavedova—whose pesky play made him an Atlanta public enemy and Cleveland hero—agitated the Hawks.
ESPN Stats & Info tracked his impact before Game 4:
Those results were offset by a distracting "Is he a dirty player?" debate. The 24-year-old guard got under Horford's skin during Game 3, and the center laid down an elbow that got him ejected. He didn't take much responsibility for his actions after the fact, per USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt.
"He's only been in this league for a couple of years or whatever. But he's got to learn at the end of the day it's a big brotherhood here," Horford said. "Guys look out for each other. I don't think it was malicious, but he has to learn."
Dellavedova apparently already learned how to frustrate the opposition. By necessity, Cleveland transformed into a defensive stalwart with Love inactive and Irving battered. Midseason acquisitions Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith also played valuable roles for the labeled one-man team.
With the Warriors one win away from cementing a Finals showdown, Cleveland will face by far its toughest challenge of the playoffs. Stopping Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will prove a tad tougher than locking down Jeff Teague and Kent Bazemore.
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