The Cleveland Cavaliers went through the Atlanta Hawks like a buzz saw last season, sweeping them in four straight games to advance to the NBA Finals. Will be a similar story this season? Atlanta likes to think the bringing a little more defense to the table, but they came off a series against Boston that lasted six games, while Cleveland has had a lot of rest after sweeping Detroit. These teams are going to meet at the Quicken Loans Arena in Game 1 of this best-of-seven set, beginning at 7:05 PM ET. BetAnySports customers can continue to be involved in the action, even after the opening tipoff, as they take advantage of the state-of-the-art software that is available through Live Betting Extra.

The Hawks are #2 in the NBA in Defensive Rating, and they bring to the table the best field goal percentage defense in the league. So you can imagine they are looking to keep the Cavaliers out of getting a lot of good looks. But they will have to improve their shooting in this series if they have any hope of moving onto the conference finals. Atlanta shot just 42.4% against Boston, and they were slightly below 31% from beyond the arc. One of the bright spots, however, was at Kyle Korver, one of the league's premier three-point artists, hit 45% of his shots from downtown against the Celtics.

The Cavaliers were paced by Kyrie Irving in their four-game sweep of the Detroit Pistons, as he averaged 27.5 points per game on 47% shooting. Kevin Love contributed a dozen rebounds per outing, so right now the Cavaliers have their "Big Three" healthy and ready, which they did not have last season when playing the Hawks.

In the NBA playoff odds posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, Cleveland is favored:

Cleveland Cavaliers -7.5
Atlanta Hawks +7.5

Over 200 points -110
Under 200 points -110

Atlanta has some defensive stoppers, including All-Star Paul Millsap, who is fifth in the league in total blocked shots and fourth in individual Defensive Rating, and he will be counted on to harass Lebron James, who was fifth in the league in scoring this season at 25.3 points per contest. But the Hawks really have to look out for Cleveland from long-range, as they had two hot hands there in the series against Detroit. Irving made 16 out of his 34 attempts from beyond the arc, while JR Smith was 17-33. If those guys can stretch out the defense, it opens up the lane for James and quite possibly presents some offensive rebounding possibilities for Tristan Thompson, who was second in the NBA in that category.

But BetAnySports patrons should be advised that the Cavs they want to go "small" here, using Love and his capability to shoot from just about anywhere in the half-court setting. Again, that will spread things out and enable Lebron to get to the basket with a little less harassment. Atlanta has to stay disciplined on defense, and they are going to have to exercise some efficient ball movement on their own offensive end. That should not be that difficult, as they were second in the league in assists. In the opinion of many, they don't lose much when they trade out starting point guard Jeff Teague for his backup, Dennis Schroeder, who is used quite a bit when he is on the floor (in fact, he had a 28 Usage figure against Boston).

Currently the Hawks are priced at +400, with the Cavaliers a -500 favorite at BetAnySports, you can get reduced juice wagering on your NBA action, as well as the liveliest in-game betting available anywhere on the planet...... Remember as well that deposits can be made with your Visa card, a person-to-person transfer or the virtual currency of Bitcoin!