NBA Playoffs 2016: Complete Monday TV Schedule, Odds and Predictions
This year's NBA playoffs are still in search of consistently competitive games. However, more should be on the way despite early returns from the second round that might suggest the opposite.
In Game 1 of the conference semifinals, the San Antonio Spurs thrashed the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, 124-92, and the Golden State Warriors did the same to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday afternoon, winning by a score of 118-106 that didn't do Golden State's dominance justice.
Let's preview Monday night's second-round games, first by looking at betting information for the two contests and then by breaking down how each of them will turn out:
| Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers | Series tied 0-0 | 7 p.m. | TNT | CLE (-7.5) |
| Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs | Spurs lead 1-0 | 9:30 p.m. | TNT | SAS (-8) |
Game Predictions
Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers
With eight days between games, the Cleveland Cavaliers should be rested and raring to go for Game 1 on their home court. Considering LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love played 41.3, 37.8 and 35.8 minutes per game, respectively, in the first round against a pesky Detroit Pistons squad, that extra rest should pay off.
On the other side, Atlanta finished a physical, defensive-minded six-game series with the Boston Celtics on Thursday and should also be rested. The problem, though? The Hawks don't have the talent to stick with the Cavaliers.
When the two teams met in last year's Eastern Conference Finals, both squads had some injury issues, but Cleveland still had James, who has been the ultimate trump card in any Eastern Conference series since 2010.
The Cavs ended the series in a surprisingly quick manner, sweeping the Hawks. Cleveland out-rebounded Atlanta by 12.8 boards per game in the four contests.
Atlanta is a slightly stronger team this time around despite winning 12 fewer regular-season games. The Hawks are healthy, and they're peaking at the right time, whereas they petered out after the All-Star Game last season.
On the other side, the Cavaliers are also better, with Love and Irving both healthy and playing well, which was not the case last year, and the firepower Cleveland has on offense is more than what Boston was able to muster against Atlanta.
In Game 1, a fresh Cavaliers squad should set the tone on the glass and hit a good amount of outside shots to make the Hawks pay for the paint-focused defensive strategy they grew accustomed to utilizing against the shooting-starved Celtics.
Prediction: Cavaliers 100, Hawks 89
Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs
Nobody could've seen Game 1 between the Thunder and Spurs coming. Yes, San Antonio was the favorite, but it would've seemed foolish to suggest it would ring up a 43-point lead early in the fourth quarter and make Oklahoma City look like one of the worst teams in the league.
So how do we approach Game 2?
The Spurs aren't as good as they looked in Game 1, and the Thunder aren't as bad as they showed in the 124-92 loss. But San Antonio is still deeper and stronger defensively and has a five-time NBA champion on the sideline.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are still monopolizing the offense, which makes the Thunder easier to game-plan against than they should be for Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. And the Oklahoma City defense was putrid, allowing all sorts of great outside looks and penetration.
Look at what TNT analyst and former NBA star Chris Webber had to say about the Thunder's effort on that side of the ball Saturday night, per Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey:
The Spurs went 40-1 at home in the regular season, losing to only the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the final week of the season.
Thunder head coach Billy Donovan will figure some things out defensively, but the combination of San Antonio's star power (Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge) and its excellent depth all the way down the roster nearly guarantees that the Spurs won't be losing on their home floor.
Prediction: Spurs 109, Thunder 97
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