Final Grades: Atlanta Hawks Memorable Season Swept Away

May 26, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13), forward LeBron James (23) and guard Kyrie Irving (2) wait to reenter the game during the third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Bad

• After how Game 3 ended, it may have taken all the wind out of the Hawks sails. The Cavaliers came out hungry and active, feeding off the crowd while the Hawks were flat from outside and weren’t controlling the glass. Down 17 points at halftime, and after the Cavaliers nipped a third quarter mini run in the bud, the Hawks just didn’t have enough left in the tank. It’s a shame it ended in such a blowout but there is no way to sugar coat it, we were beat. The Hawks shot a miserable 5-32 on threes. Every miss looked more forced and more strained and it was exactly reminiscent of the Hawks live-or-die from deep mentality during Game 7 of last season’s first round. The overall uncharacteristically bad three-point shooting the whole series leaves a lot of questions left unanswered about what could have happened.

• At the same time, the Cavaliers were practically throwing rocks into the ocean. Whether left open or heavily contested, their shots would almost always fall, each one more demoralizing than the next. They shot 42% from deep, with 13 bombs, made in a variety of ways: pull-ups, turnarounds, spot-ups, you name it, there was no antidote. The other troubling statistic concerned the battle for the boards, and “battle” would not be fair to the Cavaliers. They absolutely killed us on the glass 56-39, 13 offensive rebounds allowing frustrating second chance points. If the Hawks didn’t already have a roster game plan set for next season, acquiring a lengthy big should be near the top of the list.

Next: The Starters