They easily won more games than any other team in the Eastern Conference this season and had four All-Stars, but that hasn’t stopped basketball fans from questioning the Atlanta Hawks’ status as a serious championship contender.
Despite having the second longest active streak of playoff appearances behind only the dynasty that is the San Antonio Spurs, the Hawks are the furthest they have been since reaching the West Division Finals in 1970 — their second season in Atlanta.
The Hawks sit four wins away from the NBA Finals after a pair of dramatic victories over the Washington Wizards in Game 5 and Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The challenge awaiting Atlanta however, is its biggest yet in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite Atlanta having home court and Cleveland being without a third of its “Big 3” with Kevin Love out, the Cavaliers seem to be the heavy favorites to reach the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers made the most noise of any team this offseason when they re-acquired the NBA’s best player, LeBron James, who led the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in each of his four years with the franchise, winning twice.
It’s not hard to understand why Cleveland seems to be the heavy favorite. James hasn’t lost an Eastern Conference playoff series since his first stint with the Cavaliers as Cleveland was ousted in 2010 by Boston in the conference semifinals.
As a sidekick, guard Kyrie Irving may actually be an upgrade to an aging Dwyane Wade, who averaged just over 15 points-per-game in last year’s NBA Finals loss to the Spurs.
The Cavaliers also come into the series with the look of a team on a mission. Cleveland managed to dispose of the Chicago Bulls in the United Center in Game 6 on Thursday by 21 points without Irving in the lineup.
While the Atlanta Hawks are in the conference finals for the first time in more than four decades, the venture there hasn’t been a thing of beauty.
Atlanta was pushed to six games in the opening round against a Brooklyn Nets team that finished just 38-44 during the regular season. For two games in the conference semifinals against the Washington Wizards, the Hawks had the luxury of facing a team without its best player in John Wall.
Had two plays happened differently in Games 5 and 6, it may be the Wizards who would be preparing to face Cleveland and not the Hawks. Atlanta is also seeking to become just the second team since 1980 to win the NBA Finals without a true superstar.
But for all the caveats and anecdotes that seem to work in Cleveland’s favor, the Hawks have a real opportunity in front of them. The Atlanta frontcourt of Paul Millsap and Al Horford will be tough to match for the Cavaliers without Kevin Love even though Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson have each played very well in these playoffs.
There’s still a question as to how close to 100 percent Irivng is. Irving, who is nursing a knee injury, said he will play in Wednesday’s Game 1, but slowing down Atlanta’s Jeff Teague isn’t an easy task even with a healthy knee. Teague averaged nearly 16 points and 7 assists during the regular season.
Furthermore, the fact that the Hawks were at times sluggish through the first two rounds will have no bearing on how the Eastern Conference Finals play out. In 2008, the Boston Celtics were pushed to seven games by a 37-45 Atlanta team and a 45-37 Cavaliers team en route to their first championship in over 20 years. Last season, San Antonio felt far more resistance from the eighth-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round than it did the two-time defending champion Heat in the NBA Finals.
It’s true that Atlanta doesn’t have championship experience or a superstar and has been relatively uninspiring thus far in the postseason, but there’s a reason the Hawks won 60 games and are one of just four teams still playing basketball.
Cleveland may have the league’s best player and a broader national appeal, but the Hawks have a pair of All-Star big men capable of playing inside or out in Horford and Millsap. Teague is one of the league’s most underrated point guards and at 34 years old, Kyle Korver ranked second in the league in 3-point percentage and third in makes this season. DeMarre Carroll has been Atlanta’s leading scorer in the playoffs averaging more than 17 points on 52 percent shooting from the field while Dennis Schroder has averaged in double-figures scoring off the bench.
Perhaps most importantly, Atlanta is a very good defensive team. The Hawks yielded fewer points throughout the season than any of the other three remaining teams.
It’s worth noting that Atlanta took three of the four regular season match-ups against the Cavaliers. If they can find a way to take four of seven during the playoffs, the echoes of all the reasons the Hawks can’t win a championship might finally be replaced by echoes of all the reasons they can.
