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Cleveland Cavaliers Make Convincing Statement By Sweeping Atlanta Hawks

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LeBron James

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers faced off against the top seeded Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals, and they ended up sweeping them as well. LeBron James led the way for his team, and it was a very convincing series victory as the Cavaliers look ahead to facing the winner of the Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors series in the NBA Finals.

Game 4 was the biggest statement that the Cavaliers have made all season, knocking off the Hawks by a final score of 118-88.

Needless to say, the Cavaliers are going to have their work cut out for them against what is expected to be the Warriors. Both teams have a lot of firepower, but James and his Cleveland squad are more than ready for that type of a challenge. It is a place that the city of Cleveland hasn’t been since James left, and a city that is in desperate need of a championship.

Atlanta was a more than worthy opponent as well, but they simply couldn’t stand up to the pressure that the Cavaliers brought on both ends of the court. They went through some injury issues, but most of all they couldn’t break Cleveland’s defense and their own defense wasn’t close to good enough to slow down the Cavaliers’ offense.

Looking ahead to the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers have set the bar extremely high. They played their best basketball of the season in this series, and they did it without having Kevin Love due to a shoulder injury. Players stepped up, and the depth that was a concern all season long became one of their strengths.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the series victory was the chemistry that the Cavaliers showed among each other. It is obvious that James has taken over a dominant leadership role, and he has brought his team closer together. David Blatt also improved throughout the season as a coach despite a lot of drama, and is a big part of the success that Cleveland had.

Cleveland never let there be a doubt that they were the better team from the get go, and they controlled all but Game 3.

That being said, the next chapter of their season is about to be written against the best team from the Western Conference. Surprisingly, James and the Cavaliers are expected to be the underdogs assuming Stephen Curry and the Warriors can take care of business. It has been awhile since James has been viewed as an underdog in a playoff series, and that will be another fact that will fuel him even more.

Cleveland has proven that they can overcome all of the drama that has come their way and reach the last step to the ultimate goal that they set for themselves. While this is a huge step in the right direction for the Cavaliers’ franchise, they are nowhere near where they want to be. They have one more series ahead of them and four more games needed to win.

It has been a long road for the Cavaliers, but this series proved that they are exactly what James came back to accomplish. He has put Cleveland back on the map as far as championship contention is concerned. This is an incredible feat for the Cavaliers, and they are nowhere near finished this season.

Evan Massey is the Green Bay Packers beat writer for www.RantSports.com, and also contributes across the NFL, MLB and NBA portions of the site. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.

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