After the Hawks stumbled to losses in four of five games to bring ninth-place Detroit within 3 1/2 games in the Eastern Conference, I wondered if they might slide out of the playoff picture altogether. It wasn't a crazy thought at the time. The Hawks had a tough upcoming schedule, starting with the Warriors, and the offense showed little sign of resuscitation.
The Hawks lost to the Warriors but they've won seven of nine to improve to a season-high nine games above .500 after pounding the Pacers on Sunday. With 15 games to play they are now just 1 1/2 games behind the Celtics for third in the East. They'll have to finish 12-3 to beat Vegas projections of 49.5 wins but it's remarkable they even have a shot after their hiccups.
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What's most surprising about the Hawks' surge is that while the offense has seen modest improvement during that nine-game stretch the defense, already good, has been even better. The Hawks have allowed 93.4 points per 100 possessions over their last nine, compared to 101.2 points allowed per 100 possessions for the season (second-best in the league). The Hawks were a very good defensive team last season and they've been even better this season.
Improving more still on that end seemed unlikely—it's hard to go from very good to great. If the Hawks were going to turn things around, it seemed the improvement would most likely come on offense because they've been mediocre at that end—it's easier to go from mediocre to good. All season they've been creating lots of open shots but weren't making enough of them and so it was reasonable to think more shots going in would be the catalyst behind them playing better.
Instead, the Hawks have supercharged their defense to win in spite of inconsistent offense. It’s a small sample size but the nine-game stretch of outstanding defense includes games against four teams ranked in the top 10 in offensive efficiency: the Warriors, Clippers, Hornets, and Raptors.
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry for one meeting but the Hawks actually were better defensively in the game he played, when they held the GSW juggernaut to its seventh-least efficient scoring game of the year. Maybe the Hawks caught a break against Pacers duo Monta Ellis and Paul George, as coach Mike Budenholzer suggested, but I think he's being too modest.
Meanwhile, the Hawks have scored 104.0 points per 100 possessions over their last nine games. That's actually about on par with their season mark (104.7, 20th in the league). There lately have been flashes of the pace-and-space spark, and the Hawks still have the potential to be a much better offensive team.
If or until that happens the Hawks can always rely on their defense, which has gone from very good to championship-caliber.
"We've had to adjust our offense a little bit as teams have adjusted to us," Kyle Korver told AJC Hawks beat writer Chris Vivlamore. "It takes time. Luckily, our defense has been there for the last couple months. It's been really good and it's allowing us to find ourselves on the offensive end. I think we are finding new ways to get different guys the ball in new spots and we're starting to play at the right level and things are starting to click at the right time."
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