NBA Playoffs 2016: Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Game 1 Preview
The semi-finals series of the 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs will be commencing this week, as the Cleveland Cavaliers begin their first game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Game One is slated to take place on Monday, May 2nd, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
The first-seeded Cavaliers were able to handily dispose of their opponents, sweeping the number eight-ranked Detroit Pistons, 4-0. With only the first and fourth game being closely contested, ending with final scores of 106-101 and 100-98, respectively, Games two and three were won via wide margins.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
In all four games, their "Big Three" composted of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and LeBron James made major contributions. In the fourth game, Irving dropped 31 points and five assists. In a report by NBA.com, he amassed a total of 110 points in the four-game series, the most points scored by any player from the team.
On the other hand, the first round series between the fourth-seeded Atlanta Hawks and fifth-seeded Boston Celtics almost went down the wire. Atlanta, however, did emerge victorious, winning 4-2.
Atlanta won the first two games that were played at their home court, ending with the finals scores of 102-101, and 89-72, respectively. The Celtics, however, were able to win both succeeding games in Boston, subsequently leveling the series, 2-2.
The Hawks refused to let things get out of hand, and went on to finish the series off, winning the next two games. In the first two games it was the efforts of guards Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague that helped propel Atlanta to victory.
In games, three and four, meanwhile, it was Celtics' starting point guard Isaiah Thomas who led his team to victory. Game three was his most notable performance wherein he scored a career-high 42 points. For the last two games, it was Atlanta's overall team effort that helped them close out the series in their favor.
In Game six, big man Al Horford saw how Boston's grit had almost cost them the series, and saw it as a learning experience.
"I think we learned from before with this team that no lead is safe. To start the third it was important for us to get off to a good start and just keep attacking and have that mentality of keep attacking play after play," Horford said in another NBA.com report.
