For the first time in franchise history, the Atlanta Hawks are about to begin their journey through the Eastern Conference Finals to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers who are 53-29 in the season.
In order to get to this position the Hawks went 60-22 throughout the season. They even had an amazing 19 game winning streak earlier in the season. Their record and winning streak shocked America. Not only was America shocked, but also sports reporters were even saying how they could never have imagined the Hawks being one of the teams to beat this year.
The Hawks were able to defeat their opponents in six games in the second-round of the playoffs, but that doesn't mean that those six games were easy and didn't have any drama.
For the Hawks, their three-point shooting has been struggling throughout this playoff season. After their average 38 percent in the regular season, they have now fallen to 34 percent from the outside in the postseason. This may cause issues for the team since they do not have one true offensive star, unlike the Cavs whom have LeBron James.
Due to this lack of offensive consistency, the Hawks really need to work on their defensive game in order to stop LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Tristan Thompson.
On the other side, you have the Cleveland Cavaliers who were also able to defeat their second-round opponents in 6 games. With that being said, they have had some drama and issues throughout the postseason.
One big problem they have had to deal with has been the fact that Kyrie Irving hasn't been at 100 percent after a nagging injury. Along with the problems with Irving and his injuries, the Cavs have also had to deal with LeBron James being very insufficient. He has missed more shots than he normally does and he has recorded more turnovers than people would expect from him.
With the chance to surpass franchise history, the Atlanta Hawks will need to make some improvements on offense and defense. During the regular season, the Hawks and Cavs played and Hawks won the series, but that does not mean that the Hawks should expect to play the same this time around and win again. The Cavs have gotten better as a team and so have the Hawks, so this series will surely not disappoint any basketball fans.
If the Hawks win this series, they will be Eastern Conference Champions and will continue to make history by going on and playing in the Finals. If they make it to the Finals they will go up against the Western Conference Champion who will be either the Houston Rockets or the Golden State Warriors.
