Despite being on a day off, the Atlanta Hawks moved up into the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. This was thanks to the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the New York Knicks in an overtime thriller.
This moved the Knicks from the fourth seed down to the sixth seed. The Miami Heat moved past the Knicks based on the fact that they won their season series 3-0. So the question is, why did the Hawks move past the Knicks despite the fact that they lost the season series against the New York franchise.
The answer is simple, and it has to do with the NBA rules for tiebreakers based on teams with multi-way ties. The Hawks, Knicks, and Heat all have a 38-31 record, and this is where the season series results do not matter anymore.
The Atlanta Hawks need to stay atop the Southeast Division
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Because the Hawks are leading the Southeast Division, they are seeded higher than the teams not leading their division. The Knicks are in the Atlantic Division and they have the Philadelphia 76ers who are nine games ahead of them and the Brooklyn Nets who are seven games ahead of them.
The Miami Heat are second in the Southeast thanks to losing their season series against the Hawks. This is where the tiebreaker is still relevant. It also shines a light on how important the game where Trae Young was out against the Heat and the Hawks were still able to win.
The schedule does not get any easier for the Heat though, they face both the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets in two of their last three games. The Knicks still have to face the San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, and Boston Celtics in their last three.
The Hawks have one game against the Washington Wizards followed by two relatively easy games against the Orlando Magic and the Houston Rockets. The Hawks are not guaranteed to stay above the Knicks if the Heat is not able to stay on the same record, but all they can do is win their own games.