The Hawks – as with most of the NBA – welcome the rest that comes with a week off for the NBA All-Star break.
How the Hawks respond following the hiatus for the final 27 games of the regular season remains to be seen. The inconsistent Hawks entered the break with a 31-24 record, good for first in the Southeast Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. They are 8-1/2 games behind the Cavaliers, 5-1/2 games behind the Raptors and one game behind the Celtics. They are also only three games ahead of the Hornets in the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference.
“I think the All-Star break is good no matter where you are as a team,” Kyle Korver said. “All-Star break will be judged whether it’s good or not by how we come back afterward. If we come back and play with the urgency and focus that we need, we’ll say the All-Star break was a great thing. If we don’t, then we won’t say that.”
It has been a busy first part of the season for the Hawks. Their packed schedule started early with two stretches of four games in five nights, something the league tried to minimize, in a three-week span in November. For the much for the first half, the Hawks played more games than any other NBA team. They enter the break having played 55 games, tied with five other teams for the most in the league. They have played 29 road games (with a 14-15 record), which is tied for second with the Mavericks behind only the 31 each of the Bucks and Lakers.
When the Hawks return from the break, they will start a five-game home stand over 10 days with back-to-back games against the Head and Bucks on Feb. 19-20. They will have three days off between home games against the Warriors and Bulls, a rarity this season.
Paul Millsap will be the only Hawks player to not have a full week off. He will be in Toronto for represent the Eastern Conference in his third straight All-Star Game.
“Even if you are playing well, after 55 games everybody is looking for a little break, get away from each other and then recharge and get after it,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I don’t think any NBA team is not ready for a break.
“We’ll take a half a second during the break, the coaches a little more than that, and think about how we want to come back and how we want to improve and get better and finish coming down the stretch.”
The Hawks appeared to have gotten on track with three straight wins against the Mavericks, 76ers and Pacers in the first week of February. Then came two of the worse losses of the season, in two nights, with crushing defeats to the Mavericks. In Orlando, they fell behind early, fought all the way back and lost at the buzzer. In Atlanta the very next night, they couldn’t hold an 18-point third quarter lead and lost in overtime.
Good thing for the Hawks, they had one more game before the break. They took advantage of an injury-depleted Bulls team and won big, 113-90, on the road. It’s a much better way to head into a tropical vacation.
“Everybody in the NBA loves the All-Star break because you do finally get that chance to be with your family,” Korver said before defeating the Bulls. “Our travel schedule the last month and a half has been pretty brutal. I think we are definitely are looking forward to being with our families and getting away for a little while.
“You always want to feel good going into the break. We had a couple tough losses the last couple games. To come out and play well will be good for all of us.”
Whether the break is the elixir to straighten an up-and-down season will be determined over the next two months.
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