The Cleveland Cavaliers won their eighth straight game of the playoffs, sweeping the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs received huge contributions from their stars, especially Kevin Love and LeBron James en route to the thrilling 100-99 win.
Much like the three previous games of this series, game four was keyed by the hot three-point shooting of the Cavs. Despite the Hawks new-found ability to hit shots and their dominance on the glass early in the game, the team was unable to get a large enough lead due to Cleveland’s three point shooting.
Atlanta actually took a large lead early in the game. Their own shooting, especially from the usually offensively inept Thabo Sefolosha, became a major key of the run to start the game, even as the Cavs hit their first five threes of the game. Atlanta also received a huge contribution from Kris Humphries whose work on the glass, defensive hustle, and shot-making on offense all allowed Atlanta to pull away.
The Cavs were hurt by two very early fouls on Tristan Thompson. The foul trouble led to Hawks’ forward Paul Millsap dominating the game early with his best defender sitting on the bench. Additionally, Thompson’s foul trouble helped the Hawks dominate the glass early on both ends of the floor.
The second quarter saw some inept defense from the Hawks allow Cleveland back into the game, however. Atlanta continuously trapped ball-handlers in pick and roll scenarios. Cleveland countered by allowing Kevin Love to be the screener and having him pop out behind the three point line every time. Love received some incredibly open looks, allowing him to get hot early. The big-man ended up finishing the game with eight made threes contributing to his 27 total points.
The second half saw an incredibly even-matched game. Neither team was able to pull away, an especially difficult concept considering hot shooting from both teams. The game went down to the wire with execution from both teams on offense.
In the end, the Cavs were too much with two clutch baskets from LeBron James aided by defensive stops and a big Thompson block to finish the game and give Cleveland the game four win.
LeBron finished the game with 21 points, ten rebounds, and nine assists in leading the Cavs to their second sweep of the postseason.
Cleveland will face the winner of the Raptors and Heat series in the Eastern Conference Finals.
