Eventually the opponents will get tougher, and the Hawks will take to the road.
Maybe that’s when they no longer can patch the hole created by Al Horford’s injury as they have during their current three-game winning streak without him. By then the Hawks might discover they can’t keep their Eastern Conference playoffs streak alive at five years while missing their All-Star center.
That’s not the way the Hawks see it.
“If you look at the East, it’s pretty much wide open,” Hawks forward Tracy McGrady said.
The Hawks (10-4) are in fifth place in the East with 52 games remaining in this truncated season. Chicago (12-3 before playing Phoenix on Tuesday) is rolling atop the conference, but most of the other teams in the mix also have issues.
Miami’s Dwyane Wade is hobbled, Boston is fading with five consecutive losses, and Orlando’s future remains uncertain as long as Dwight Howard’s trade demand stands. Upstarts Philadelphia and Indiana have thinner resumes than Atlanta.
The Hawks, meanwhile, continue to go about their business as if the postseason is their minimum goal, just as before Horford went down. Horford had surgery to repair his torn left pectoral muscle Tuesday and is expected to miss three to four months.
“We are getting counted out a lot, even [for making] the postseason,” Hawks forward Josh Smith said. “There’s a lot of injuries on this team, but we have to look at it like [every] team is a little banged up because everybody is playing a lot of games. We just have to find a way to keep getting wins.”
The Hawks have managed to do it so far with victories at Philips Arena against Charlotte (3-11 before playing Orlando on Tuesday), Minnesota (5-8) and Toronto (4-10). The competition stiffens at home against Portland (8-5) on Wednesday and at Philadelphia on Friday.
Horford ranks among Hawks leaders in several statistical categories and is effective and versatile on offense and defense. So far the Hawks’ formula to get by without him has been for veteran mainstays Smith and Joe Johnson to do more of what they’ve always done while a variety of role players fill in the gaps.
In the three games without Horford, Smith has averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots while shooting 57 percent from the field. Johnson has set season highs in scoring in each of the past three games while averaging 5.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists.
Point guard Jeff Teague has continued to aggressively drive to the basket for scores while also accumulating assists. Center Zaza Pachulia, who has started two games in place of Horford, is providing his usual defensive energy, rebounding and ability to earn free throws. Bench players Ivan Johnson, Willie Green and Vladimir Radmanovic all have played key roles in the three victories.
The Hawks have no immediate plans to sign a veteran to bolster their front court and eventually may choose to stick with what they have.
“I don’t want to get my hopes built up about something possibly happening and it doesn’t happen,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said.” I would rather approach it as nothing is going to happen, this is the team and we will go out and do the best we can.”
Outsiders may believe the Hawks’ ceiling is simply being one of the East’s eight playoff teams, but McGrady said that’s just the start.
“We have got our goals set high, and we are going to try to accomplish that,” he said. “Obviously having Al out puts us in a bad situation because he is one of our leaders and a key guy. But I think ... we can make it happen.”
