The NBA’s Eastern conference is weak—we know that much already. But, is it weak enough for LeBron James and the Kevin Love-less Cavs to make it past the top-seeded Hawks and through to the NBA Finals?
From what we’ve seen of the four-time MVP James and the not-so-sure-footed Hawks, the answer is yes—though it’s not that simple.
As sure as the Hawks were in the regular season in their march toward a 60–22 record, they’ve been remarkably unsure in these playoffs. Atlanta needed six games to top the eighth-seeded Nets—the worst team to make the postseason—and then six more to just get past a Wizards team that was without star guard John Wall for half the series. (And I haven’t even mentioned how close Paul Pierce was to sending Game 6 to overtime.)
One thing the Hawks have going for them is their health (which is good). While stars like Wall, Love, Chris Paul, Mike Conley, and Pau Gasol have all missed time this postseason, Atlanta has avoided any major losses.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers didn’t exactly look like world-beaters against Chicago, but they took advantage of the Bulls’ weaknesses to prevail. LeBron and company lost two of the first three to the Bulls before capitalizing on Gasol’s absence to win Games 4 and 5, and then throttled them in Game 6 in Chicago.
