Five Keys for Cleveland Cavaliers to Defeat Atlanta Hawks in Eastern Conference Finals

3. Win The Point Guard Matchup

Outside of being 2014-15 Eastern Conference All-Star teammates this year, Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving and Hawks point guard Jeff Teague’s ties to each other go pretty far back. Kyrie’s father, Drederick Irving, and Jeff’s father, Shawn Teague, were teammates at Boston University 30 years ago, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. Drederick is on the far left standing, while Shawn is sitting left of then-BU head coach John Kuester.

During the 2014-15 regular season and playoffs, both point guards were obviously a huge part of their respected team’s successes, despite both Irving and Teague missing some time due to injuries. During the regular season, Teague ranked third in the Eastern Conference with seven assists per game, trailing only Washington Wizards point guard John Wall (10 assists per game) and LeBron James (7.4 assists per game). Although Irving continues to battle a myriad of injuries during these playoffs, he’s still managed to put up very good numbers and has confirmed that he will indeed play in Game 1 on Wednesday night in Atlanta.

2014-15 Regular Season Per Game Statistics Comparison:

2014-15 Playoffs Per Game Statistics Comparison:

In addition, an intriguing and extremely important matchup this upcoming series will take place between the two backup point guards in the Cavs’ Matthew Dellavedova and the Hawks’ Dennis Schroder.

After Irving did not play a single minute during the second half of Game 6 against the Bulls, Dellavedova stepped up immensely as Cleveland’s x-factor en route to a team-high 19 points on seven of 11 shots from the floor. Schroder, who has averaged 10.1 points and 4.3 assists during the playoffs, is a very solid and underrated player for Atlanta who is not afraid to attack the basket and play stingy defense.

Next: Three-Point Shooting