Going to Atlanta used to be an easy win.
That’s what Nate McMillan, still a Hawks assistant coach under Lloyd Pierce at the time, told the team at one point earlier this season, according to wing Bogdan Bogdanovic.
“‘Let’s make sure this year the teams need to be prepared for these games here. It’s not going to be easy,’” Bogdanovic said of McMillan’s message to the Hawks. “So I think we did that, and that’s what makes me proud and my team proud about it.”
Bogdanovic relayed this just minutes after the Hawks proved McMillan right — even in a season-ending loss. After years of rebuilding, the Hawks catapulted from that easy out to one of the final four teams hunting for a title, showing it belongs in the conversation of top teams in the East. What’s more, an exceptionally young core, one with minimal playoff experience, moves forward unafraid of and experienced with big moments.
“It certainly could be,” McMillan said on if this could be the start of a special run for the Hawks franchise. “They’ve gotten a taste of what it takes to get here. It’s hard. … Yes, this could be the start of something that is consistent.”
Last season, the Hawks finished 20-47, too poor of a record to garner an invite to the season’s restart in the Orlando bubble. This season, their goal simply was to qualify for the playoffs, much less advance to the Eastern Conference finals and win two games vs. the Bucks, eventually falling in six Saturday night.
On paper, they never were supposed to be there in the first place, and at the season’s midpoint it seemed suspect they would even reach their preseason goal. With that context, the loss to Milwaukee doesn’t damper this remarkable run. The Hawks started the season 14-20 before McMillan took over March 1, then performed so well in the second half that they nabbed the No. 5 seed (there will soon be a conversation regarding that “interim” tag and McMillan’s future with the franchise, he said after Saturday’s Game 6 loss).
Most everyone picked against them entering their first-round series vs. the No. 4-seed Knicks. They blew the Knicks out of the water, winning in five.
Most everyone picked against them entering their second-round series vs. the No. 1-seed 76ers. They bested Philly in seven, with two stellar comebacks in the mix, one improbable (an 18-point comeback in Game 4), one nearly impossible to believe (a 26-point comeback in Game 5).
Most everyone picked against them entering the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the No. 3-seed Bucks. That one ended up being the correct guess, though the Hawks kept it interesting, tying the series 2-2 before losing two consecutive, with Trae Young playing on one leg in Game 6 on Saturday night.
“We definitely shocked the NBA,” Bogdanovic said, another message of McMillan’s with which he agrees.
For the Hawks, the offseason is here, and with it comes the situation with McMillan’s status, the NBA draft, Summer League and, of course, potential roster moves.
There are still some issues the Hawks may address (finding another facilitator for the second unit and beefing up the defense more, perhaps, in addition to John Collins’ contract situation), but this group as-is made the conference finals.
The Hawks’ core proved it belongs, and the pieces are there to sustain this momentum.
“We’ve got the talent, and we’ve got guys that you see we can do it, and you see the flashes that we can do it,” Young said. “It’s just, it’s hard. This (expletive) is hard. It’s not easy. (The Bucks have) been here multiple times before and haven’t been able to take that next step, and I think for us being able to go through this for a first time early, I mean, it’s really good for us. I think it will only help us.”
