Summary:
The Cavaliers eliminated the Bulls thanks to great performances from some surprising players. Now it's on to Atlanta to face the #1 seeded Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals. We're talking playoff basketball. It's GameTime!

 

Hosts: Mike Kresic (http://twitter.com/kresic), Tom Kresic (http://twitter.com/tkresic)

Running Time: 37:14

 

 
1Q: Did Someone Order a Delly Trey?

* Cavs 94, Bulls 73 (http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400793126), win series 4-2.
* Who could have predicted Matthew Dellavedova stepping up in a critical game for the Cavs like he did?
* With Kyrie injured again and Lebron not having his typical game, Delly and Shump sparked the team after Mirotic threw an arm at Shump’s neck.
* 3rd quarter was ugly for both, with little scoring through much of that quarter.
* The Cavs took over and you could tell Chicago had no fight left in them.
* Derrick Rose is not the superstar he used to be. Joakim Noah has ZERO offensive game.
* Jimmy Butler is a terrific player and rising star in the League.
* Shumpert seems to have recovered from his injured ankle and was big in the last few games.

 
2Q: Cavs Are Walking Wounded

* Kyrie reaggravated his knee injury when he stepped on Tristan’s foot. He had an amazing Game 5, but hopefully six days rest will be enough to allow him to play with some type of offensive game.
* Lebron is clearly hurting too after his bad fall in Game 5 and then tweaking his back on a hard foul in Game 6.
* Atlanta has home court advantage but has not looked particularly impressive in the post season (beat Brooklyn in Rd 1 and Washington in Rd2).

 
3Q: Looking Ahead to the Hawks Series

* Atlanta was the top seed in the East for a reason, but did they peak too early?
* The Hawks are a team without any superstars. NBA teams like that rarely win titles.
* DeMarre Carroll tends to give LBJ fits.

 
4Q: Keys to the Series

* LBJ has to minimize his turnovers
* Kyrie’s health, helps reduce minutes of role players
* Shutdown Atlanta’s perimeter shooting.
* Play Cavs basketball, control the boards, space the floor, keep it close until the 4th.