Cleveland Cavaliers Sweep Atlanta Hawks, Advance to Eastern Conference Finals

8 games down, 8 games to go. The Cleveland Cavaliers, led by coach Mike Brown and NBA superstar Lebron James, continue to steamroll through the competition. The Cavaliers swept their second consecutive series, this time against the Atlanta Hawks, to become the first team to advance to the Conference finals. The Cavaliers become the fifth team in NBA history to start the playoffs 8-0. The Cavaliers also set a NBA record in winning their eighth consecutive playoff game by double-digits.

Against the Detroit Pistons in their first round series, the Cavaliers won every game by an average of 15.5 points. Against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Cavaliers increased the margin of victory to 18 points.

Lebron James earned the MVP award earlier this season and has stepped his game up in the playoffs. James' stats for the playoff series against the Hawks are 33.8 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 6.0 assists per game, including 47 points in Game 3. Lebron's supporting cast has also played well in the playoffs and Lebron has said that he has trust in every single one of his teammates.

Lebron's go-to guy Delonte West averaged a respectable 15.0 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, and 4.0 assists per game. The Cavaliers tallest center Zydrunas Ilgauskas averaged 9.5 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. Cleveland's other center Anderson Varejao didn't score many points but did average 10 rebounds per game. Mo Williams is averaging 17.8 points in the playoffs. All these players have been a big part of the Cavaliers success. At times, the Cleveland starters and bench players have out-scored the opposition with Lebron on the bench.

One thing that is not known about the Cleveland Cavaliers is what will happen when the Cavaliers are faced with adversity? They have not had any adversity in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Cavs have only trailed late in one of the eight games. All the teams remaining in this year's playoffs (L.A. Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks) would give the Cavs adversity.

Next for the Cavaliers are the winner of the Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic series in the Eastern Conference Finals. In the regular season, Cleveland was 1-2 against the Magic and 2-2 against the Celtics. The Cavaliers have not played the Orlando Magic in the playoffs recently but want to get revenge on the Boston Celtics who they lost to last year in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.