A look at the Atlanta Hawks-Cleveland Cavaliers semifinal series (with regular-season and playoff records):
No. 1 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (66-16, 4-0) vs. No. 4 ATLANTA HAWKS (47-35, 4-3.)
Season series: Cavaliers, 3-1. Cleveland easily won the first matchup, but the final three games were decided by six or fewer points. The Hawks snapped the Cavaliers’ 11-game winning streak with a five-point home victory in December, and the Cavs needed a free throw by LeBron James with 1.6 seconds left to pull out an 88-87 victory on their other trip to Atlanta. James didn’t shoot well against the Hawks, but still averaged 26.3 points and 8.3 assists.
e semifinals for the first time since 1999.
Key matchup I: Anderson Varejao vs. Josh Smith. The athletic Smith, who averaged 16.3 points and 8.9 rebounds in the first round, can score from inside or the perimeter. But he’s an emotional player who can lose his focus, and Varejao is one of the best in the league at getting under an opponent’s skin.
Key matchup II: Mo Williams vs. Mike Bibby. Bibby, a playoff veteran, was perhaps Atlanta’s most consistent player in the first round, when he scored 14.9 points per game and made 16 of 30 3-pointers. He may have to be even better so Williams, who punished the Hawks by averaging 23.3 points in the regular season, will have to spend energy on his defense.
X-factor: Zaza Pachulia. Pachulia gave the Hawks some strong play off the bench in the first round, averaging 7.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in about 24 minutes per game. Atlanta will need him to provide more rugged play to compete with a physical Cleveland frontline that lists the 6-foot-8 James as its small forward.
Prediction: Cavaliers in 5.
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