With just a few weeks left in the regular season, our attention turns to which teams will make the playoffs, and which teams have the best shot at a title. In the Eastern Conference, the regular season has been all but locked up by the Atlanta Hawks. They hold an eight game lead on the second place Cavaliers and have all but wrapped up home court throughout the east playoffs. While the Cavs have been hot lately, and the Hawks have been struggling a bit, Atlanta still should be able to hold them off. The real question, though, is which team should be considered the favorite in the Eastern Conference?
The case for Atlanta
The Hawks have been perhaps the biggest surprise of this NBA season. After starting slow, Atlanta has ripped off huge win streaks and raced out to their lead in the Eastern Conference. They have become one of the best teams at home in the NBA, and at 30-5 so far they don’t show many signs of slowing down. This home court advantage will be huge throughout the playoffs, as no team in the east has been better at home than the Hawks.
Their balanced is unmatched, especially in the east. With all five starters averaging double-digit points per game, any one of them can go off on a given night. Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll, and Kyle Korver function exceptionally well as a unit, and were the only five players to win player of the month in the same month, ever. When Korver went down with an injury, the team’s efficiency sputtered. This is perhaps one of their weaknesses, but one the Hawks haven’t had to deal with all season.
A strength of playing so well as a unit is the proficiency with which they share the basketball. This team is dubbed the “Spurs of the East” for multiple reasons, and one of them is the unselfishness with which the team plays. They average 25.4 assists per game, which is second in the NBA. The bench plays well together also, and the passing does not stop when Teague is out of the game. Their unselfishness is a major strength, and one that has helped get them to the top of the conference.
Finally, Atlanta plays great defense. They allow the sixth least points per game, and that is with their best perimeter defender in Thabo Sefolosha missing almost half of the season. With him back in the fold, they have another lockdown defender to help stifle opponents (LeBron James???). While their rebounding is suspect, this is an excellent, well-rounded team that seems poised to make a deep playoff run.
The case for the Cavaliers
Cleveland’s rise to the top has been far more tumultuous. With many twists and turns in their season, it has taken various trades, two-week vacations, coach-firing rumors, and more for the Cavaliers to get to where they are today. With that said, they are second best in the east and have the best player on the planet, in one LeBron James. Him alone gives them a chance to go all the way, but let’s look at why Cleveland should be considered a contender in the east.
There is an adage in sports that all a team has to do is make the playoffs, and get hot at the right time. Well, the Cavs are getting hot at the right time. They’ve won 8 of 10, and most recently steamrolled the Grizzlies in Memphis in an impressive a showing as they’ve had all year. Their offense is clicking, and now averages almost 104 points per game, ranking sixth in the NBA. Head coach David Blatt has figured out how to play LeBron with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, and now they appear to be firing on all cylinders.
Their defense has improved over the course of the season as well. At the beginning of the year, there were missed assignments, blown rotations, and poor individual defensive performances all over the court. However, their trades for Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert have helped shore up a once-porous defense. Now they average the 11th best scoring defense in the NBA, and are trending upward as the season comes to a close.
Finally, it must be said again that they have the best player in the NBA. LeBron James has taken a much weaker Cleveland team to the finals, and has also played in four straight NBA Finals series. Needless to say, he knows what it takes to win it all. That experience will help Irving, Love, and many of the other players on this team that have never played in the playoffs before. It has been proven repeatedly that it is damn near impossible to beat LeBron four times in seven games. If that continues to be the case, it will be hard to argue against them being the favorites in the Eastern Conference.
The Verdict
Perhaps I don’t think the Cavaliers have enough playoff experience as a team, but I still believe the Hawks are the class of the Eastern Conference. Their balance and depth makes them a formidable opponent for any team, and a team with a similar makeup and more experience just defeated a better team with LeBron just last June. I think the Hawks can get it done in the playoffs, and have to be considered the favorites in the Eastern Conference.