CLEVELAND -- A series dominated by the 3-point-shooting, baby-faced Cavaliers over the ball-moving, style-and-grace Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta with its polite demeanor and comments, built-to-be-boring publicly by the Popovich way, and the show-and-go Cavs, wearing hats, tweeting #TheLand every ten seconds, talking about "growing" and "learning."
So how could this series feel like such a brutal battle of attrition, and how could it be decided by the Cavaliers' physicality and ability to play through injury? When did this become the series decided by injuries, and not the ones to the Cavs? How did this become the one where players were limping and groaning as they exited the arena, and where a superstar collapsed to the floor in exhaustion after Cleveland's 114-111 overtime victory Sunday?
By hook, by crook, by Cleveland's Matthew Dellavedova or Atlanta's Al Horford, by cramp or by crutch, Hawks-Cavs went from a basketball game to a wrestling match Sunday night. Fueled in part by the Hawks' desperation, down 0-2 and short-handed, and in part because the Cavaliers, also short-handed, are simply man-handling the Hawks with their size advantage but are also continually racking up injuries beyond the guys who are on the shelf. Nineteen offensive rebounds don't tell the full story, nor does the controversial play by Horford, landing an elbow on Dellavedova after the Cavs guard boxed out Horford, was drug to the ground, and then landed or pushed his way into Horford's knee.
The real story was in the exhausted faces at the podium after the game, LeBron James limping his way onto the stage, then having to brace himself coming off on the railing steps, it was on his face as he collapsed to the ground after the Hawks' last game-tying attempt caromed off, he and Jeff Teague mirror images of misery and relief mixed with pain.
"I gave everything out there," James said after the game, and looked the part after scoring 38 points, pulling down 17 rebounds and handing out 13 assists.
Horford said that Dellavedova has to "learn" about how to play in the NBA, and both Horford and Shelvin Mack talked about Dellavedova's "track record" on such plays, which include hooking Taj Gibson's leg last round which earned Gibson a suspension, and the play that resulted in the injury to Kyle Korver. (Korver is out for the season.)
James adamantly defended his point guard after the game. "People are trying to give [Dellavedova] a bad rap. He doesn’t deserve it and I don’t like it … I will protect my guys, for sure," James said. James has to feel a tight bond with this group, one that was so fractured and confused for much of the year but has come together to now stand one win within the reach of the Finals.
That bond only comes with adversity, with the pain of suffering through injury, and through victory.
"He's our leader," Tristan Thompson said of James. "He's banged up, he just put his will on the game and lead us to victory."
Iman Shumpert winced and limped away from the locker room after talking about what James gave. Thompson sighed and stretched. James took over an hour to come out of treatment. The Cavs have dominated the Hawks, of that there can be no doubt, but they sure won't feel like it Monday morning.
They will, however, feel like they won, and that in a season they've already proven so much about themselves, they'll feel that they earned it, through power and pain.
"It's just mind over matter," James said.
In a series that's become as physical as this, the mind mattered a great deal.
1. THROUGH THE FINGERS
The Hawks are going to look back on this postseason with a lot of regret. They are better than what they showed, but simply never seized the opportunities that were given to them. They allowed 17 second-chance points in Game 3 on 19 Cavaliers offensive rebounds.
A late rebound sailed right to Mike Scott. He watched it go out of bounds. The Hawks got two looks at a 3-pointer for the tie at the end of the game. Nope. They could never hit the dagger, never secure the loose ball, never grab victory. Injuries, bad luck, a flawed model, no superstar, whatever you want to assign it to, the result is the same.
This series is over, and while the Cavs have been the better team, the Hawks should regret the opportunities they've let go in this series and in these playoffs.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS vs. ATLANTA HAWKS
Cleveland leads series 3-0
| Eastern Conference Finals | ||||||
| Game | Date/Series | Location | Time | TV | ||
| Game 1: Cleveland 97, Atlanta 89 | Wed. May 20 | Philips Arena | -- | -- | ||
| Game 2: Cleveland 94, Atlanta 82 | Fri. May 22 | Philips Arena | -- | -- | ||
| Game 3: Cleveland 114, Atlanta 111 (OT) | Sun. May 24 | Quicken Loans Arena | -- | -- | ||
| Game 4: Atlanta at Cleveland | Tue. May 26 | Quicken Loans Arena | 8:30 p.m. | TNT | ||
| Game 5*: Cleveland at Atlanta | Thu. May 28 | Philips Arena | 8:30 p.m. | TNT | ||
| Game 6*: Atlanta at Cleveland | Sat. May 30 | Quicken Loans Arena | 8:30 p.m. | TNT | ||
| Game 7*: Cleveland at Atlanta | Mon. June 1 | Philips Arena | 8:30 p.m. | TNT | ||
| *If necessary | ||||||
2. ROYALE WITH PLEASE GO IN
James' shot continues to not fall. He shot 14 for 37 from the field. His jumper wasn't going, he couldn't get the roll at the rim, if he wasn't dunking, he wasn't getting buckets without a foul.
And yet, in typical LeBron fashion, he controlled the game. A triple-double in the third quarter, finishing with 37-18-13 and all this in what was only a B-plus LeBron performance. That's how good he is.
The Hawks continued their approach of "anyone but LeBron" which hasn't worked all series. While the Rockets have left Steph Curry repeatedly off-ball, the Hawks have suffered a different pain, getting constantly beat by James dishing to shooters who you would normally beg and plead to shoot. But they're wide open, and in rhythm, and knocking down big shots.
Then in the game's biggest moments, James dragged the team kicking and screaming to victory as he has so often. Bothered by an ankle and other injuries, he nailed the corner three after Paul Millsap flew by, and then got to the bucket for the assurance score. It wasn't the best LeBron performance, but it was yet another testament to his will.
The Hawks said "anyone but LeBron" but LeBron scored anyway, and everyone got their turn as well. Never adjusting that strategy put them in a 3-0 hole.
3. MAD MAX: DELLY ROAD
The play everyone will be talking about involved Cleveland's
Regardless of whether you think Dellavedova meant to, and there are points on both sides, Horford simply cannot lose his cool like that, with his team down 2-0 on the road without two key players. It's just not something they could survive, and it sunk whatever hopes the Hawks might have had at pulling the upset.
If Horford pulled him down, there's little way to lay blame at Dellavedova's feet. At the same time, it's weird the the Australian Master of Disaster keeps winding up in questionable situations. Bad luck, I guess.
