NBA Playoffs – Cavaliers vs Hawks Betting Odds

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NBA Playoffs: Cavaliers vs Hawks Betting Odds – Cavs and Hawks Present Big Contrast in Styles

By Charles Jay

One of the first things you notice about the Eastern Conference finals series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks is that there is a rather pronounced difference in offensive style between the two clubs. The Cavs picked up LeBron James in the off-season to establish themselves as a championship contender, and there is little question that he has taken total charge. Cleveland ranks #1 in the league in isolation plays, and isolation is often what James is all about. Sometimes this can take the offense down, if he is having an off-night. And with Kyrie Irving suffering from injuries to his leg and foot, this may become a situation where King James assumes more responsibility.

NBA Playoffs: Cavaliers vs Hawks Betting Odds: Even though Atlanta has the home court advantage in the series, Cleveland is the favorite to win this best-of-seven, as it is posted at BetAnySports:

Cleveland Cavaliers -220
Atlanta Hawks +180

On the other hand, BetAnySports customers can look upon the Hawks as sort of the anti-Cavs, if you will. Since hiring Mike Budenholzer, they have become a clone of the San Antonio Spurs with their penchant of moving the ball around as much of possible. Truth be told, the Hawks have led the league in assist rate three years running, and during this post-season they have had assists on almost 68% of their field goals. They are about not having a star; in fact, consider this remarkable fact – Atlanta has had only ONE occasion where a player has scored 30 points in a game. With Cleveland, that kind of thing is almost routine.

Atlanta won 60 games on the regular season, so they came away with the #1 seed in the East, and part of that was a sizzling run of 33 wins in 35 games. The Cavs went through some horrific slumps, and some real drama, but still finished as the second seed, although they had to elevate themselves to get there.

Interestingly enough, on a team that has no real superstars, Atlanta populated the Eastern Conference All-Star team rather nicely, with four players named. These are great component parts to an overall picture. One of them is Paul Millsap, the power forward who has had a tremendous effect on his team’s performance when he is on the floor. In fact, the Hawks have scored 21 more points per 100 possessions when he is in the lineup than when he isn’t.

The challenge for Atlanta is what they are going to do in the defensive scheme to handle LeBron. The general consensus, and something BetAnySports patrons have come to understand, is that DeMarre Carroll is the team’s best wing defender, and when is guarding James directly, it has been a rough time for LeBron, as he has made just three of 15 shots in the two meetings these teams have played.

Defense is not known to be the strong suit of these Cavaliers, and so it stands to reason that they would have some difficulty with Atlanta’s motion on offense. In fact, the Hawks had the best Effective Field Goal Percentage of any team against the Cavs this season, and they won three out of four meetings, with an average margin of 15.3 points per victory. So they aren’t exactly suffering badly from matchup disadvantages.

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