If it feels as though the deck has been stacked against the Atlanta Hawks (26-28) for much of the season, that’s because it kind of has. They won’t use it as an excuse but, between COVID and injuries (again), there have been enough disruptions to their season to last an entire season.
They’re also tied with the sixth-toughest slate of games to this point.
But, as they get set for their first game post-trade deadline with a home date against the San Antonio Spurs. They traded away guard Derrick White on Thursday to the Boston Celtics and also moved Thaddeus Young to the Toronto Raptors.
They got guards Josh Richardson and Goran Dragic back, respectively, with the latter expected to be waived and eventually join the Dallas Mavericks.
The final stretch of the schedule could be favorable for the Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta is still two games below .500 on the season despite going 9-3 since Jan 17 thanks to being just 2-3 in their last five. But two of those losses came against the sixth-seeded Toronto Raptors who are a bad matchup. The other was a clunker against the Dallas Mavericks where Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, and Bogdan Bogdanovic all struggled to shoot it.
Now, 15 of the 28 games left on the Hawks schedule – which ranks 25th per Tankathon.com – are road contests. They are just 10-16 on the road this season and have dropped six of their last seven away from State Farm Arena.
However, only seven of those 15 are against teams among the play-in field.
"“I’m on board with that. Our guys, they’re starting to play better basketball, and now we’re going down the stretch and we know we’re gonna be here. We go down the stretch trying to win this race to get into the playoffs.” – Nate McMillan via Sarah K. Spencer/Atlanta Journal-Consititution"
The Charlotte Hornets sit just two games above the Hawks and have lost six straight. The Brooklyn Nets shook up the NBA but are three wins and two losses ahead of the Hawks and have lost 10 games in a row.
Atlanta will see Brooklyn and Charlotte once more each in the regular season. Their climb gets tougher with Boston and Toronto both riding winning streaks of at least six games.
The Hawks are 4-5 against those four teams so far and 10-10 against their other road opponents.
They will have some tough home games with matchups against the Raptors and Chicago Bulls still to come as well as tilts against Western Conference foes in the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors.
Atlanta will also play six more back-to-backs after having nine to this point.
Still, this is a very manageable slate for a team that felt confident enough not to tinker with its roster despite its competitors making moves. It’s a bold strategy that they could get some help in paying off thanks to what is one the easiest remaining schedules in the NBA.