The Cleveland Cavaliers Have Simply Coasted to the Eastern Conference Finals

Another series, another sweep for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs remain the NBA’s only undefeated team this postseason, disposing of the Atlanta Hawks 4-0 on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland will now get a lengthy rest before facing either the Toronto Raptors or Miami Heat, not long after a week-long layoff following a first-round sweep of the Detroit Pistons, .

And it may be strange to say, but it seems as if the Cavaliers got here on cruise control.

“Our second time around there’s a sense of calmness within our locker room,” said Kyrie Irving after the Cavs beat Atlanta 100-99 in Game 4, via NBA TV’s postgame broadcast.

Cleveland has enjoyed both blowouts and occasional challenges so far. They’ve also given up considerable opening quarter and first-half leads, never showing any sense of urgency, only to unleash a barrage of three-pointers to take over games.

This kind of complacency could spell trouble in future rounds, or could be viewed as an efficient playing style that reduces risk of injury to the Cavaliers’ Big 3.

Whatever the case may be, it appears to be working as Cleveland is a perfect 8-0 heading into the conference finals.

Flipping the Switch

Game 4 against Atlanta was a perfect microcosm of the Cavaliers’ postseason.

The Hawks poured in 36 first-quarter points, getting wherever they wanted on the court simply by capitalizing on the Cavs’ pick-and-roll coverages. Cleveland was either late, half asleep or simply didn’t look worried that Atlanta was on pace to score 144 points.

A little more urgency was expected, especially in a closeout game, but no one on the Cavaliers seemed worried. To their credit, defensive effort was far more prevalent in the final three quarters, when Atlanta managed just 63 total points.

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