Despite obstacles, the Atlanta Hawks are playing great basketball

The Atlanta Hawks got off to a rocky start this season. On November 12th, a loss to the Denver Nuggets sank them to 4-9, outside of the playoff race. A team that took the league by storm in the Eastern Conference playoffs was floundering. All of the talk from Trae Young about competition and was rearing a red flag.

The Hawks soon found their footing. They ripped off seven wins in a row. In all of the games falling in the w-column, they scored 110 or more points. Wins included taking down the Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Hornets, and Boston Celtics.

At 12-10, those victories could aid in their separation from the pack later this season.

The Atlanta Hawks have resurrected their season

They are currently tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the aforementioned Celtics in the Eastern Conference from seeds sixth through eighth. It’s an understatement to say that they need all the victories they can get.

Working against them in this impressive stretch is health. You can almost stop me if you’ve heard this negative factor in the past.  Cam Reddish will miss time due to a sprained wrist. He joins De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic on the mend. Not to mention that Onyeka Okongwu is still recovering from surgery. Despite the bad news of all these ailments, they have to get healthy eventually. And when they do, their surge will likely move in the right direction like last season.

Their resilience with this level of injury says a lot about them. It means that they can adopt the “next man up” mentality when needed. Young has not blinked at their woes. Like any superstar, he took a lot of things off his team’s plate. He put up 27.7 points on 44.2 percent shooting from three, along with 9 assists on their win streak. That is a huge level of production and looks like MVP numbers.

What’s also working in the Hawk’s favor is only a few teams are separating from the pack. One game is the difference between them being a play-in team or a fifth seed. Other contenders are dealing with both injury and personal absences as well. Bam Adebayo, Kyrie Irving, and Brook Lopez are some of the bigger names on Eastern Conference foes that may or may not be future factors. It’s shaping up as who will be present and ready at the right moment in time.

The Hawks still have work to do, but I predict that they will be fine. As the injuries heal and chemistry builds, they are sure to make it another memorable playoff run. If they don’t keep this momentum going and injuries worsen, things will be interesting in Atlanta.