Schedule and 2014-15 Results
Regular Season Records: Atlanta 60-22, Cleveland 53-29
Game 1 on Wednesday, 20 May: Cleveland wins at Atlanta, 97-pts-89
Game 2 on Friday, 22 May: Cleveland wins at Atlanta, 94-pts-82
Game 3 on Sunday, 24 May: Atlanta loses at Cleveland, 114-pts-111 (OT)
Game 4 on Tuesday, 26 May: Atlanta loses at Cleveland, 118-pts-88

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 4: The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted and defeated the Atlanta Hawks 118-pts-88 to complete a 4-games-nil best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1281 victory. With the series 1281 win, the Cleveland Cavaliers improve their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record to 13-8 overall and 2-3 in the Semifinals round. With the series 1281 loss, the Atlanta Hawks see their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record fall to 7-22 overall and 0-3 in the Semifinals round. The win order for the victorious Cleveland Cavaliers in series 1281 was WWWW: Series 1281 thus becomes the sixteenth NBA Semifinals-round series, the 70th NBA series (all rounds), and the 211th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion.

After Game 3: The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted and defeated the Atlanta Hawks 114-pts-111 in overtime to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1281 lead of 3-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-nil, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 4-0 and a Game 4 record of 4-0. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-nil, the Atlanta Hawks have a series record of 0-6 and a Game 4 record of 2-4. With the Cleveland series 1281 Game 3 win, both 2015 NBA Semifinals series stand at 3-games-nil for the first time since the NBA Semifinals have been played under the best-of-7 format.

After Game 2: The Cleveland Cavaliers visited and bested the Atlanta Hawks 94-pts-82 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1281 lead of 2-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 7-0 and a Game 3 record of 4-3. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Atlanta Hawks have a series record of 0-12 and a Game 3 record of 6-6. In series 1281, the Cleveland Cavaliers post the first win/site order of WW @ VV in the NBA Semifinals round since 2010, when the Boston Celtics did so at the expense of the Orlando Magic in series 1116. Leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a perfect 7-0 Game 4 record, even though their Game 3 record in that situation is just 4-3.

After Game 1: The Cleveland Cavaliers visited and defeated the Atlanta Hawks 97-pts-89 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1281 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 9-1 and a Game 2 record of 7-3. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Atlanta Hawks have a series record of 1-18 (with the sole win occurring in Atlanta's last best-of-7 NBA playoff series) and a Game 2 record of 7-12. Cleveland trailed series 1281 Game 1 by six points after one quarter in Atlanta. In the history of best-of-7 format NBA playoff games since 1946, inclusive, road teams down six points after one quarter prior to series 1281 Game 1 had a game record of 25-117 (.176).

Pre-series assessment: In the 2014-15 NBA regular season, the Atlanta Hawks finished seven games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers. From 1947 through the 2015 NBA Quarterfinals, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by seven regular-season games, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 25-4 (.862) in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1281 is the 29th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for the Atlanta Hawks, and the 21st for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the Atlanta Hawks have an all-rounds series record of 7-21, a Semifinals-round series record of 0-2, and a Game 1 record of 9-19, while the Cleveland Cavaliers have an all-rounds series record of 12-8, a Semifinals-round series record of 1-3, and a Game 1 record of 10-10. Series 1281 is the second best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In their previous meeting, in series 1079, Cleveland swept Atlanta from the 2009 NBA Quarterfinals.