Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2016 NBA Playoffs – Eastern Conference Semifinals Game One – May 2, 2016

It’s the start of another round and another opportunity for LeBron to extend the legend of James a little further. We all know the Cavs are upset about last year’s Finals exit and they’re on a war path. They made quick work of the Detroit Pistons in just four games. While the Hawks took a little longer in the opening round quest with Boston, finally taking out the Celtics in six.

While one series is just getting going, another is heading for it’s second game of the second series. That sounded a little Game of Thrones’ish. Anyhow, check out our Oklahoma City vs San Antonio Game 2 Preview here.

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Hawks vs. Cavaliers Game One Round Two Preview

Where: Quicken Loans Arena – Cleveland, OH

When: Monday, May 2, 7:00 PM ET

Line: Atlanta Hawks (+7.5) at Cleveland Cavaliers (-7.5); total: 200.5 – view all NBA lines

TV Broadcast: TNT

Betting on the Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks were one of the hottest teams in the NBA in 2015. 2016 has been a bit of a different story. The Hawks entered the postseason 6-4 in their final ten and with a 48-34 record, which was good enough for fourth in the East but just barely. They tied the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets heading into the second season.

So with that said, the road for them has been a little bumpy and the critics are no longer on their side. The Hawks stumbles don’t end there though. So far through one round of the NBA Playoffs, they don’t have one guy in the top 20 for league scoring. Their closest is Jeff Teague in 24th only averaging 16.4 PPG. Then, to top that off, they also don’t have a player in the top ten for rebounding either. Their closest is Paul Millsap in 12th, pulling down 8.8 on any given night.

This will be an issue for Atlanta because they’ll need to be able to capitalize on Cleveland’s mistakes. Rebounding will be essential for the Hawks. Against a team that’s averaging 103.5 PPG in the postseason, they’ll need to be angry on the boards to try and turn them into points. As for their own rebounds, they currently rank 14th in the NBA (7th among still active teams) for offensive boards with a mere 8.5 per game.

The Hawks will need to come out of the gates hot and will need to crash the boards extremely aggressively if they want to be relevant in this series.

Hotlanta are +6,000 to take the title this season and a conference-worst +1,200 to prevail out of the East.

Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers

It’s not shocking that the Cavaliers are still the Eastern Conference best bet following their stomping of the Pistons in round one. Detroit didn’t know what hit them losing each tilt by an average of 8.5 points. The Cavs broke the brooms out early and would love to keep them out for their second round series with ATL.

For Cleveland to stay hot though, they’ll need the consistent play of Kyrie Irving to continue. He currently leads the NBA with 27.5 PPG, which is pretty timely because LeBron is only putting 22.8 – a little worse than his season average of 25.3. Needless to say, when your averages are that high regardless, you’re in good shape.

The Hawks would love to get their revenge from last year’s Eastern Conference Final, but it won’t be easy. The Cavs beat Atlanta in all three of their meetings this season by nearly ten points (9.66 avg) through each of those games. Cleveland is looking to stay hot to keep their warpath momentum strong heading for the final round.

The Cavaliers are currently your Eastern favorite at -400 to take the conference and +350 to take the title.

Writer’s Prediction

Cleveland (-7.5) wins with ease 110-95.

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