Cramer: Cavs vs. Hawks

I said in my previous post that I would wait until after the home-and-home between the Cavs and Hawks to pass any judgment on the Hawks. Well, after both games, I think we've seen something: the Hawks are better than they were last year, but they're still not good enough to compete with the big dogs in the playoffs.

After watching the Cavs defeat the Hawks in Atlanta 95-84 behind a great defensive effort in the 4th quarter, and 106-101 after capping a 17 point comeback in the second half with a treasured Anderson Varejao 3, it's time to cut the Hawks out of the discussion for the East crown.

Since the beginning of the season, experts have had the Hawks amongst the beasts of the East along with Boston, Orlando, and Cleveland. This was due in large part to their dismantling of Boston in Boston early on. As the year has gone on, we've seen Atlanta blow a huge lead to Orlando at home, lose convincingly to Cleveland at home, and blow a huge lead to Cleveland on the road. Add these losses to their awful losses to the Bulls and Knicks, and it's time to take them out of the conversation until they prove us wrong.

Conclusion: The Hawks always compete well with Boston, but in a 7 game series against Cleveland and Orlando, they stand no chance.