The Hawks can take solace in one fact.
As the eighth seed, they will play the Heat or the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs as underdogs. However, the Hawks know they split the season series with each team still vying for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. In the span a week, the Hawks won impressive victories over each to go 2-2 in their season series. They defeated the Pacers 107-88 last Sunday and six days later clinched the final playoff berth by beating the Heat 98-85 Saturday.
The wins, by an average margin of 16 points, came as the Hawks were battling the Knicks for the last spot. The Hawks (37-43) officially eliminated the Knicks with the win over the Heat to clinch their seventh straight postseason appearance, the longest current streak in the conference. The playoff run also matches the longest run in Atlanta history (1992-97).
The Pacers control the race for the top seed and a matchup with the Hawks following Sunday’s victory over the Thunder. The Pacers (55-26) have a magic number of one with one game remaining. They own the tie-breaker over the Heat (54-26), who have two games remaining. The Hawks were eliminated by the Pacers in the first round of last season’s playoffs in six games.
While the regular-season victories may help the Hawks’ confidence, the playoffs are not the same.
“It’s a different game, different time,” Kyle Korver said Saturday. “Playoffs are different. We can say playoff atmosphere and all that. Playoffs are different. …
“Right now, we are excited about the win, excited about going into the playoffs playing good basketball. We didn’t want to just fall into the playoffs and get smacked in the first round. No one wants to do that. I don’t care about Atlanta’s streak of playoff appearances. I don’t care about that. I want to go in there and play well. To feel like things are clicking a little bit gives us some confidence.”
The Hawks, still battling some injuries, have won three straight and five of the past six games. They have two games remaining in the regular season, versus the Bobcats Monday and at the Bucks Wednesday. The NBA playoffs begin Saturday.
The Hawks could use the final two regular-season games to rest some players. Pero Antic has missed two of the past three games with a sore right ankle. Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll are both playing with wraps on their right hands. Korver missed six games last month with back spasms.
LeBron James told Heat reporters following Saturday’s loss that he would likely rest the final two games of the regular season to go into the playoffs rested.
Coach Mike Budenholzer, even following the playoff-clinching victory, said his main concern was with the Hawks’ continued improvement.
“Honestly, I’m happy we get to play more games and I get to talk more about improving and getting better at this,” Budenholzer said. “If we want to build something, Miami has been in the finals three or four years in a row and there are a lot of teams that have had a lot of success and it takes time to build it and build your habits. (The Heats’) habits are outstanding. We want to continue to build our habits and continue to improve. Our group has really fought hard this year. They have competed hard and they’ve got what they deserved (with playoff berth).”
Note: The Hawks announced Saturday night that playoff tickets are available at www.hawks.com/playoffs or 1-866-715-1500. Opening round Games 3,4 and 6 (if necessary) will be played at Philips Arena.
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