The Hawks have done what no Hawks team has ever done – win 15 games in succession. If you’re just tuning in, you’re asking, “How did this happen?” If you’ve been keeping score at home, you have a rather different question: “How long can this last?”
The answer: Maybe a good while longer.
We note for the record that the Hawks’ last loss was unaccountable – a 107-77 home thrashing by middling Milwaukee. Nobody saw that coming. But the way these guys are going, it’s hard to imagine them hoisting another such lead balloon anytime soon. Their next four games are at Philips Arena against Minnesota, which has the NBA’s second-worst record; Brooklyn, which is sub-.500; Portland, which is very good but just lost LaMarcus Aldridge to injury, and Philadelphia, which has the league’s third-worst record.
That would bring this run to 19 straight, which would equal the NBA’s sixth-longest winning streak. Then would come a road game at New Orleans, which is dangerous, and then back here for another date with Washington, which the Hawks beat by 31 points not long ago. That would take it to 21 games, which would be the fourth-longest in league annals, and then whereupon Golden State – the one NBA team with a better record – would come to town for one of the most improbable Mega Games any regular season has even seen.
Here we pause for breath. And also to say, “Are we believing this?”
We should be. This team has won 15 in a row with nary a fluke in the bunch. On Friday they played a high-level game against a high-level opponent, and when it was done the Hawks had beaten Oklahoma City 103-93. A double-figure win over the team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, bona fide superstars. A double-figure win by the team we all believed would never accomplish much because it has no superstar.
Even as the Hawks have won 15 on the trot and 29 of 31 since Thanksgiving, there has been a reluctance in some sectors to cast this as a legitimate championship contender because – all together now – it lacks someone to take over a game. The Thunder have two such players, and they took over nothing Friday.
Know who had a bigger hand in the winning of No. 15 than Durant and/or Westbrook? Dennis Schroder, the 21-year-old backup point guard from Germany. He scored 13 points and made five assists in 18 minutes, and he’s not one of Hawks’ Big-But-Not-Huge Four. Kyle Korver, who is, made only two baskets, though one was his now-nightly dunk. Jeff Teague scored 17 points and held his own against Westbrook. DeMarre Carroll chased Durant, who needed 22 shots to score 21 points, and scored 13 (on seven shots) of his own. And Paul Millsap was the best player on a floor that included Durant.
For as much as we gush over the Hawks' precision, sometimes games turn on grit. In the third quarter, Millsap missed a jumper but stole Durant's outlet pass to feed Carroll for a 3-pointer and missed a layup but snatched the rebound and found Pero Antic for a trey. In the fourth, Millsap was the recipient of a gift wrapped in hustle: Kent Bazemore, the 10th man, outfought an opponent for the rebound and threw the ball to Antic, who missed a jumper that Millsap powered home. And then, 23 seconds later, Millsap hit the corner trey that made it 92-79, over and out.
Millsap’s line: 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Great stuff.
This is the kind of bravura performance the Hawks get from someone, and not necessarily the same someone, every game. OKC cannot win if both Durant and Westbrook don’t have big nights. The same doesn’t apply to the Hawks. They can win with Korver scoring five points. They can beat anybody anywhere – they’re 11-2 against the supposedly mighty NBA West – because they have so many ways to win they don’t need a superstar. They just need each other.
Fifteen games running, having each other has more than sufficed. It might well suffice into February. Ordinarily I’d be loath to suggest such a thing for fear of jinxing a team — I’ve been known to do that — but I’m afraid these Hawks are too good for jinxing.
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