Lil Red Machine

The Cavs have been doing a lot of waiting around. Sasha Pavlovic even found enough free time to get married.

The time for waiting is over. What the Cavaliers have on their hands now is a very athletic, high flying Hawks team. Joe Johnson is the leader and best player on this team. He isn’t very flashy, but he can score in bunches and is just a step below the top tier players in the league. Josh Smith has freakish athleticism, Mike Bibby is a cool, calm customer who has been there/done that. Also, Zaza Pachulia is active and can post up some decent numbers.

However, this team has its fair share of problems. Al Horford and Marvin Williams aren’t healthy. Plus, this team got killed in its 3 road playoff games in Miami. That doesn’t bode well for them as they try to win in the toughest arena for the opposition to win in.

While the Hawks were engaged in that 7 game series, the Cavs were resting. One can never have enough rest this time of year. Any sort of rustiness might last for all of 5 minutes. One you step on that court, you don’t lose those good habits that you spent an entire year developing.

The Cavs have big time goals. I can’t help but think that Atlanta is just happy to be along for the ride.

Cleveland is bigger, more experienced, better defensively, and a more polished team than Atlanta.