Hawks’ margin for error shrinks, fighting to keep spot in NBA Play-In

The Hawks have looked to stack the good days they’ve had this season. But they could not finish the week off on the right foot after dropping two straight games.

Each time the Hawks (24-27) appear to make up ground in the standings, they stumble and make things that much more difficult. Before their two losses to the Rockets and Pacers, the Hawks won three straight games and managed to move up in the standings.

The Hawks downed the Pacers on Monday, holding them to 12 points in the fourth quarter in one of their better finishes of the season. Then the Hawks went into Boston, where they flustered a Celtics team that had embarrassed them on their home court roughly two weeks ago.

But the Hawks, without three of their starters, ran out of steam on the second night of back-to-back games, against the Rockets.

Then they failed to put away the Pacers, who had the second-worst record in the NBA before Saturday’s game.

Up ahead

The Hawks have a bit of a lighter schedule this week with just three games on the books. On top of that, two of those games will take place at State Farm Arena.

But after stumbling at the end of last week, the Hawks’ margin for error continues to shrink with every multi-loss streak. Two of the upcoming games have a bearing on the Hawks’ standing in the Eastern Conference, and the Hawks have already tipped the scales against themselves with prior losses to those teams.

Tuesday at Heat

The Heat have not been the strongest over the last two weeks offensively. So, the Hawks will want to bounce back defensively after spotting one of the league’s most inefficient offenses 129 points on Saturday night.

Over the last 14 days, the Heat have averaged 113.7 points per 100 possessions. They’ve had to navigate the absence of sharpshooter Tyler Herro, who has been out because of an injury to his ribs.

The Heat also have not had all-star wing Norm Powell, who has missed time because of personal reasons. But the Heat also has several other members playing through various bumps and bruises.

The Hawks have already dropped one of the games in the season series against the Heat. So, evening the series could give the Hawks a sliver of breathing room in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Heat match up against the Bulls on Sunday and wrap their week against the Celtics and Wizards.

Thursday vs. Jazz

The Hawks already beat the Jazz in their first meeting this season. Lauri Markkanen had 40 points for the Jazz.

This season, the Jazz rank 21st in the NBA in offense, averaging 110 points per 100 possessions. Their defense is not much better, with the Jazz putting up the worst defensive efficiency in the league.

Saturday vs. Hornets

The Hornets won six consecutive games leading into the new week and have had the league’s best offense over the last 14 days. They’ve averaged 120.3 points per 100 possessions, while also producing the NBA’s second-most-efficient defense.

The Hawks lost their first meeting against the Hornets in December and will look to even the series on Saturday.

Like the Heat, the week’s meeting could have big implications for the Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings. As of Sunday, the Hawks have just a 1.5 game advantage on the Hornets for 10th place in the Eastern Conference.