The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history and for the first time since 2007. Led by LeBron James and a resurgent Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers were able to knock off the Atlanta Hawks and complete a four game Eastern Conference Finals sweep with a 118-88 blowout win in Cleveland's' Quicken Loans Arena.
Cavaliers vs. Hawks 2015 Game 4 results: 3 things we learned as Cleveland completed the sweep
Cleveland is headed to the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history.
James finished the game with 23 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and connected on 10 of his 20 shots from the field. Irving, who was listed as questionable before the game due to a right knee injury, looked healthier than he has all postseason as he scored 11 first half points and finished the game with 16. Tristan Thompson scored 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
The Cavaliers as a team shot 49 percent from the field, while their defense held the depleted Hawks to 43 percent shooting. Atlanta hit just five of its 30 shots from behind the arc.
Atlanta looked defeated from the game’s opening tip. LeBron was given open lanes to the basket and took advantage.
He also picked apart the Hawks' defense with his passing. Cleveland shot 58 percent in the first half and entered the locker room at halftime with a 59-42 lead. Then the third quarter began and things only got worse for Atlanta. Tristan Thompson dunked back offensive rebounds and threw down alley-oop lobs from J.R. Smith. LeBron continued to do LeBron things. Two on four fast breaks were converted and Timofey Mozgov swatted shots. There were smiles on the bench. Kendrick Perkins scored on a post move.
For the Hawks, it was a sad way to end what was truly a great season. This was a team that had four All Stars and at one point won 19 games and finished the regular season with 60 wins. Tuesday night they looked wounded, inept and lifeless. Al Horford finished the game with just 2 points. He didn't hit that shot until midway through the third quarter.
Now Cleveland gets to rest up as it awaits its Western Conference counterpart. The Finals begin on June 4. That gives the Cavaliers nine days without a game. They might not enter the Finals at full strength, but they should be healthier and more rested than they’ve been in weeks.
3 things we learned
LeBron+the Eastern Conference=Not Fair
This will be the fifth straight year that LeBron James has reached the Finals. He’s the first player to accomplish that since 1966. Think about that for a second. Think about all the great players that have come around since then. Larry and Magic and Michael and Shaq and Kobe and Duncan, just to name a few. This year the Cavaliers were able to win 12 of their 14 playoff games, despite Kevin Love being out. LeBron is awesome, for sure. He’s still the best player in the league. But man it also helps to spend all your time in the East.
Kyrie Irving can be effective on one leg
Irving was clearly not 100 percent Tuesday night. He had very little speed and there was nothing smooth about his running motion. And yet, he still managed to score 16 points in 21 minutes. That’s a great sign for the Cavaliers, who are going to need everyone at their best if they want to beat the high-octane Warriors (the likely opponent) in the Finals. As mentioned above, Irving will have now have nine days off to rest his left, and ankle, and anything else that hurts. That’s a long time. It also could mean everything to Cleveland.
The Hawks were willing to quit
This was not an impressive showing for Atlanta. Yeah, they were completely broken, with Thabo Sefelosha and Kyle Korver out, and Paul Millsap banged up, and yeah, it was unlikely that they would win four straight games. But they could have at least showed some heart. This game was over before the first quarter was. Al Horford was non existent. Neither was the defense nor the defensive rebounding. It was a great season for Atlanta, but not a great ending.
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