The NBA All-Star break provided just as much of a mental refresh as a physical one, Hawks wing Kevin Huerter said Wednesday.
“It was definitely good to get a couple days off. … It’s extremely important, honestly,” Huerter said. “Really league-wide, I think everybody looks forward to it. You’re in the season a long time, you’re grinding, and just to be able to have three or four days off where you don’t have anything to do, nothing to worry about, it’s definitely a good feeling. I think everybody needed it. It was well-deserved, and now we’re back to work.”
The Hawks certainly have work to do, with the All-Star break over and only 24 games left in the regular season, beginning Thursday in Chicago. All in all, per Tankathon, their remaining schedule is favorable, the 26th-hardest in the league. But, their first five games in the stretch is difficult – if it goes poorly, it could take the Hawks (28-30 and 10th in the Eastern Conference) out of play-in tournament contention (making things harder, power forward John Collins is nursing a right foot strain and wasn’t able to practice Tuesday or Wednesday).
On the other hand, if they fare well, it could help the Hawks make up some ground in the standings in a hurry, since they play several teams ahead of them. It also could set them up to get hot and go on a much-needed run.
The next five games, the Hawks play the Bulls twice, the Raptors, the Celtics and the Wizards. The Bulls (38-21) are tied with the Heat for the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors (32-25) are at No. 7, the top spot for the play-in tournament, the Celtics are No. 6, the last slot for the playoffs and the Wizards are No. 11, one game back from the Hawks, with Washington gunning for a play-in spot.
“It’s a tough stretch, and we know that,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said Wednesday. “It’s just, the focus is on the opponent in front of us. Chicago is playing really good basketball. That’s where our focus is at. Our attention is to come out and play a really good game and try to get a ‘W’ up in Chicago.”
“There's pressure in every game from here on out."
Entering this pivotal period, the good news is the Hawks came back from the break recharged.
“Most guys, even if they stayed in town, they really got some rest,” McMillan said. “This is really needed for our guys, and I think guys, they try to take advantage of that. The main thing is that, what we told them before, mentally and physically get what you need. So if you need to get those days off and you need to get a rest and get away, do that. We have to come in … and have ourselves ready for this stretch of 24 games that we have to play.”
With only 24 games remaining and the regular season ending in about a month-and-a-half, each game left is vital, Huerter said. And there’s a slimmer margin for error for the Hawks, who can’t afford a losing streak or bad stretch.
“There’s pressure in every game from here on out,” Huerter said. “Obviously, we need wins. We’re not looking at the next four, we’re looking at the next one, and that’s how we can go in and win in Chicago (on Thursday), so we’re going to start with that. ... We’re fine. We’ve got no more time to dig ourselves holes. I think we’ve done that a couple times this year, lost four or five games in a row or we put ourselves in pretty bad position. We don’t have time to do that, but if we can stack wins and put together a streak or two to end the season, we’re going to be right there in the mix where we need to be.”
