The undefeated Hawks come with some caveats: The season isn't a week old. Atlanta hasn't played a championship contender. It had to pull out the last two wins after being in control.
Still, the bottom line is the Hawks are 3-0 and on top of the Eastern Conference standings. But Larry Drew, taking the coach's critical view, said he's concerned about worrisome lines that have emerged early in the season.
Hidden among those three victories were too many turnovers, inconsistent defense and meandering focus. Those things haven't cost the Hawks victories in October but will undermine their goals in May.
"I'm happy that we are 3-0 but I certainly see that we have room to improve," Drew said after the Hawks beat Washington Saturday at Philips Arena. "I don't want guys to get complacent or look at things like we are world-beaters, because we are not."
The Hawks have won in spite of their flaws and lapses, and that's no small thing in the NBA. But when Drew gathers his players for practice Monday, he will have plenty of material to show them to dissuade them from being satisfied.
Atlanta's offense sizzled Wednesday in the season opener at Memphis, which was a good thing since the Hawks never really slowed the Grizzlies, who were missing two key players.
The Hawks were potent offensively again at Philadelphia Friday. At least they were until the 76ers rallied in the fourth quarter to make it a game and Atlanta's execution got shaky.
The Hawks had to climb out of an early hole against the Wizards. Then they had to fight off Washington's comeback as Al Thornton and John Wall exposed Atlanta's problems in guarding the perimeter.
From a statistical perspective, the snapshot of Atlanta early in the season looks about the same as at the end of last year. The Hawks are among the most efficient offensive teams in the league but in the middle of the pack defensively.
Drew has stressed improving the latter ranking since true championship contenders are almost always among the best defensive teams.
"We have a ways to go defensively," Hawks center Al Horford said. "We play good at times but we have to become a little more consistent. I've been saying that since preseason, and I know it sounds redundant, but that's when I will know when we are up there."
The constant for the Atlanta has been timely production from its bench players.
When Horford struggled against Memphis, Zaza Pachulia was dominant and all of Atlanta's reserves made contributions. Jamal Crawford, the league's reigning Sixth Man Award winner, provided scoring punch when the Hawks dragged against Philadelphia and Washington.
Drew said there have been occasions when he was ready to put back in his starters but held off because the reserves were playing well.
"If they are going good, I am going to ride them," he said.
That's pretty much Hawks forward Josh Smith's view of the season so far. The Hawks are winning, no matter how they've done it, and he's going to ride with it.
"There's always things we can do better, but we are 3-0," he said.
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