The Cleveland Cavaliers are enigmatic. Here's a team with Kyrie Irving, Lebron James, and Kevin Love in the starting lineup. They help make up a team that will enter the playoffs as the defending NBA champions and two-time defending conference champions. However, they are also a team that might cough up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference over the final days of the NBA's regular season. As a case in point, the Cavaliers coughed up a huge lead in a game against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

Cleveland had a 28-point lead after 3 quarters

The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks with a 93-67 lead.

That kind of lead, that late in a game, hardly ever gets overcome in NBA basketball. Even when Atlanta hinted that they weren't dead in the water with a hot start to begin the fourth quarter, the complexion of the game didn't change much. Deron Williams hit a three-pointer for Cleveland with 9:22 to go to curtail Atlanta's comeback efforts. The basket restored a 20-point for Cleveland that they appeared certain to nurse home.

But when Atlanta cut the lead down to 15, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love re-entered the game after sitting for a stretch. It seemed to make a difference as Cleveland was able to maintain a double-digit lead until 2:51 remained in regulation. At that point Mike Muscala made a driving layup.

He would eventually assist on a Paul Millsap buzzer beater that tied the game at 111. It capped an incredible 44-point 4th quarter for Atlanta where they held the Cavs to just 18 points. The Hawks would win the overtime period as well 15-14 for a one-point victory in front of their home fans.

The result is meaningful for Atlanta, a team that has played a lot of games recently without their star-player Paul Millshap.

With two games remaining in their schedule, the Hawks are in a log jam of second-tier teams. Avoiding a lower seed will certainly help their chances of surviving the first round in the playoffs. At present, Atlanta sit 5th in the Eastern Conference.

Will Boston overcome Cleveland?

Following the loss the Cleveland Cavaliers have an identical record to the Boston Celtics.

Had they hung on for victory against Atlanta then Cleveland would have been a huge favorite for the top seed. Now, anything is possible. Cleveland will play on Monday in Miami and then back home against Toronto on Wednesday. That's a tough schedule given that they will face the Heat without any rest following an overtime loss. The Raptors are a tough team in their own right.

Boston, on the other hand, will host the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks to end the season. It wouldn't be surprising to see Boston go 2-0 with Cleveland going 1-1 for the balance of the 2016/17 campaign. That in turn would send the C's into the 2017 NBA playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Whether with Cleveland or with Miami, the NBA Finals have featured Lebron James every year since 2011.

That streak can't last forever and this year seems like a candidate year for it to end. The Cavs are certainly dominant at times and you can never take your eyes off of them at any point. However, results speak louder than analysis and the Cavs, besides the loss to Atlanta, have some bad ones recently. They lost to Chicago on March 30th, San Antonio on the 27th (by 29 points), and to Washington on the 25th by double digits. They don't look like an elite team from some points of view with just a 20-20 record on the road this season. If they end up with a road series against Boston in the conference finals, the Celtics may very well cause the upset.
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