The NBA playoffs standings has the Cleveland Cavaliers into the NBA finals after the Game 4 win over the Atlanta Hawks to take the eastern conference finals series 4-0 in a sweep and now LeBron James has the Cavs back to the finals and they likely will play against the Golden State Warriors, as they are up 3-1 on the Houston Rockets out west.
LeBron James advances to his fifth straight NBA finals while playing with the Cavaliers and the Miami Heat and now the team waits for the west to finish up. The Cavaliers won big for the Game 4 matchup and it came against a Hawks team that was decimated by injuries through the playoffs. The Hawks were the top seed in the east, but the series did not go their way and now the Cavaliers are back into the finals with James.
James averaged a triple double for most of the series and he once again was impressive for the Cavaliers 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Paul Millsap did all he could with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, but the Hawks were too shorthanded to keep things close. The Cavs took an early lead and never looked back and they outscored the Hawks in all four quarters of the game. Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 17 points and he was impressive through the series, while Tristan Thompson stepped up for the Cavs with 11 rebounds.
Cleveland has not won a championship in 50 years and now the team will have a very good chance of getting it done. The Warriors are a very good team, but the Cavs are deep as well and with James playing so well coming into the finals, it won't be an easy task to get past them. The Warriors have a 3-1 lead over the Rockets in the west finals and it looks like they are locked in, as no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs.
Kyrie Irving has been banged up and so has James, but now the entire team will get some rest heading into the finals. The Cavs were the number two seed in the east and the Hawks were number one, but it surely did not look that way in the series. The Warriors are the top seed in the NBA and the Rockets were the number two seed and that series has been one-sided, although the first two games were more competitive.
The Rockets played for pride on Monday night and they won big behind 45 points from James Harden. The team went up 45-22 after the first quarter and ended up winning 128-115 and now the team is looking to keep things interesting with another win in the series. The team is going to have to find a way to win on the road and that has been nearly impossible for teams against the Warriors this season. Steph Curry left the game briefly after taking a hard fall, but he ended up okay and should be fine for the next game.
