So if we were to get past the Hawks who would we play in the second round? Don't tell me Cleveand?
Cleveland.
Wow this is just horrible 2 of the most toughest outs in the east were screwed
why?? We can beat the hawks
Yeah I'm not too worried about the seedings.
Atlanta beat Boston 3-1 in the season series, but ultimately the Hawks and Celtics are VERY closely matched with their rosters, and the Playoffs are a whole other ball game.
Starters:
Teague < Thomas
Korver < Bradley
Bazemore < Crowder
Millsap > Johnson
Horford > Sully
Then off the bench:
Schroder = Smart
Hardaway < Turner
Sefolosha = Jerebko
Humphries < Olynyk
That's a really close matchup in terms of fit and talent, and it's likely going to be determined by effort and desire, rather than outright talent. Might well be the most hard fought matchup in the first round.
I'm not all that concerned with the Cavs either to be honest. Aside from Lebron (who is having maybe the last impressive season in years) nobody else on that Cleveland team has a lot of heart - Irving and Love in particular have practically zero playoff experience, and neither seems like the type who raises their game on the big stage. Once you go beyond those three guys the team is really not especially talented. Factor in that the team chemistry seems to be all over the place, and that Kyrie and Love are both injuries waiting to happen, and that series is by no means unwinnable.
Obviously Clevleand ARE the best team in the East and you do need to respect them, but for some reason I am actually more scared of playing Toronto then I am about playing Cleveland.
I just think we match up well with Cleveland. I think Amir matches up nicely on Love defensively, Sully has the weight to take Mosgov, Crowder and Turner (maybe even Smart) can give Lebron a tough time, and Bradley can make things very hard for Irving.
We tend to struggle against teams with talented interior scorering bigs and we tend to struggle against teams who have a crapload of dangerous three point shooters. Cleveland doesn't really have either, because you almost always have Lebron and Thompson/Mosgov on the court, and so you always have two poor three point shooters out there.
I think we match up well, and I don't think Cleveland wants to have to face us in the second round any more than we want to face them. Lebron in particular has, I think, hates seeing green uniforms come playoff time!
