The Hawks are locked into the No. 5 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, but they aren't locked in. They have nagging issues to go with their nagging injuries.
Coach Larry Drew has to manage those competing concerns over the final four games of the regular season.
"It's tough," Drew said. "Health is always the first priority. When you go through a long schedule, a long season, you are going to have injuries. If you are in the playoff hunt, the playoff picture, you have got to try to find that balance."
Philadelphia can't catch the Hawks for the No. 5 seed after it lost at Boston on Tuesday, and the Hawks (44-34) can't overtake Orlando for the No. 4 seed. The Hawks will face the Magic in the first round of the playoffs starting next week.
Starters Josh Smith (knee), Joe Johnson (thumb) and Al Horford (ankle) and reserve Jason Collins (ankle) are among the hobbled players who could use some time off. The question is how much time.
"I think if guys were to take games off, then I don't think it should be the last two," Johnson said. "If anything, a game in between. Those last two we have to be in tune and be in rhythm."
The Hawks play three games in four nights starting Friday at Indiana and finish the regular season at Charlotte on Wednesday.
The Hawks' momentum has slowed with two consecutive losses after a four-game winning streak. Drew said losing "leaves a bad taste in your mouth" even if the losses don't mean anything in the big picture.
Before the winning streak, the Hawks had lost 14 of 21 games. Their offense has been a mess for more than a month, and their defense has slipped lately, too.
Ideally the Hawks would be sharp by now, and resting players wouldn't be as potentially risky.
“I wish I could say at this stage of the season I knew what I was going to get night in and night out, but at this stage we have been too inconsistent," Drew said.
The Magic, who have played unevenly for two months, face the same quandary.
Gilbert Arenas and J.J. Redick have been slowed by injuries. All-Star center Dwight Howard had called for more days off even before the Magic clinched the No. 4 seed, and coach Stan Van Gundy warned against players backing off heading into the playoffs.
The Celtics and Lakers eased into the playoffs last season before advancing to the finals, but Van Gundy said teams of that caliber get a pass.
"The rest of us can't do it," Van Gundy recently told the Orlando Sentinel. "We don't have the background. We don't have enough guys that've been there and done it. We've got to go in [to the postseason] playing with great intensity and energy. We just do."
About the Author
