NBA Playoff Betting – (2) Cavaliers at (1) Hawks (Game 1)

Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks (-1, 197 o/u)

Despite having the best record in the East for the majority of the regular season, the Atlanta Hawks (60-22, 35-6 Home) have had a lot of trouble convincing pundits that they’re an NBA title threat. Mike Budenholzer’s balanced squad will look to earn some respect tonight when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29, 22-19 Away) in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals (8:30 PM Eastern at  Philips Arena).

Atlanta took care of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Washington Wizards in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but were tested by both squads, adding to the sense that they’re not bona fide championship material. Much of the concern around the team is due to the fact that they lack a dominant superstar. Whereas the Cavs have LeBron, the Warriors have Curry, and the Rockets have Harden, the Hawks have an extremely balanced starting lineup that boasts several all-stars, but no go-to playmaker.

Nevertheless, Budenholzer sees his team playing LeBron and the Cavaliers tight.

“It’s going to come down to the last couple of minutes. It’s going to come down to the last couple of possessions,” said the coach in the press conference before Game 1. “You need to have confidence that you can get stops. You need to have confidence that you can execute and score. Whichever team is able to do that has the best chance.”

Cleveland, meanwhile, ousted the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls in rounds one and two. They’ve saved their best for last, winning and covering the spread in the last three against Chicago after falling behind 2-1 in the series.

Despite having James in the lineup, the Cavs are – at heart – a young and inexperienced playoff team. But James has done his best to keep his fledgling teammates poised in the face of playoff pressure.

“He has been a great leader for us,” said Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving to the press. “In terms of learning the nuances of the game and also how to win on the court and also how to carry ourselves off the court, I feel like he’s been a great influence in that role.”

Atlanta won three of the four regular season meetings with Cleveland this season, but the series was split 2-2 against the spread. With LeBron turning things up a notch and Atlanta falling off a bit from its regular season dominance, the Cavs plus the point looks like the better play.

Pick: Cavs +1.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (AAAA0584) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)