The Atlanta Hawks are enjoying their best stretch of the season

Right now is the perfect time for the Atlanta Hawks (41-37) to be doing just what they are doing. Their win over the Brooklyn Nets, along with a little assistance from the Eastern Conference brethren, gave them sole possession of the eighth seed with a legitimate shot at the seven seed currently held by the wilting Cleveland Cavaliers.

They have done well to navigate injuries to Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, and rookie Jalen Johnson in that frame. Those latter two could have been especially tragic with John Collins still sidelined with “no timetable” for his return.

Fortunately, when you have Trae Young, victory is usually within reach.

He’s averaged 30.8 points and 11.6 assists in the Hawks win streak while shooting 49.0 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from downtown.

The offense and defense have come together over the Atlanta Hawks win streak

Atlanta leads the NBA in points over the last five games at 128.4 points per game shooting 50.3 (6th) percent from the floor while knocking down 41.4 percent (4th) of their looks from beyond the arc. Again, while much of that is thanks to Young, the Hawks have taken the experience of the season and thrived down the stretch.

They have had nine players average double figures over this span with four of them seeing action in all five outings.

Of those nine, two are shooting over 45.0 percent from outside. Kevin Huerter is shooting 52.5 percent on 8.0 attempts per game while Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is knocking down his triples at 46.7 percent clip on 3.0 deep attempts per night.

Young is just fourth on the team in this span while Delon Wright leads shooting 54.5 percent.

This is not even counting Bogdanovic’s 42.6 percent from deep in four games and has allowed them to not even sweat Gallinari shooting just 23.5 percent in this time. They’ve also gotten standout performances from Johnson (12.0 points, 75.0% FG) and Kevin Knox (12.0 points, 64.3% FG) albeit in just one and two games, respectively.

It’s this balance that has led to the Hawks being one of just two teams to be undefeated in their last five games along with the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Hawks starters are sixth in the league in scoring in this stretch with 88.0 PPG. Their bench ranks seventh at 40.4 points per, including a 46-12 edge in their win over the Nets. More than their depth proving key, though, the Hawks are doing it on both ends.

Yes, they have scored 120-plus points in all five games, their longest such streak of the year.

They are also third in steals, fifth in rebounds, and sixth in assists as one of just two teams to rank in the top-10 in all three categories during this span along with, interestingly enough, the Sacramento Kings who have gone 3-2 but are going to miss the postseason for the 16th straight season. The Hawks have maintained despite being just 16th in assists.

It has been a two-way effort, as the steals suggest. The Hawks have the NBA’s best offensive rating, naturally, but have gotten their defensive rating to 11th.

Their defensive rating is virtually identical – 113.0 during the streak compared to 113.7 on the season – but it is up from 26th in the NBA as the league has seen an explosion in scoring as we gear up for the postseason.

Opponents have averaged 114.6 points per game against the Hawks in this stretch.

That is 16th in the Association and compared to their ranking 22nd when allowing 112.2 PPG to further illustrate the point that all they needed this season was to play average to above-average defense to be successful.

After losing to the Hawks, Kevin Durant — who had a career-high 55 points — cited the Nets fouling issues which led to a 49-19 free-throw disparity. The Hawks are first in the NBA averaging 28.8 free-throw attempts per contest in this stretch. With just four games left, and a chance to improve their standing even further, everything is coming together for the Hawks.

Up until this win, it could be argued that the level of competition hasn’t been the stiffest outside of Golden State who was without Stephen Curry.

This Nets team had beaten the Hawks three times already, though, and were missing parts each time making this win feel different and this streak feel more significant than others this season; even those that ultimately extended further.

Just think of how many games against what could only be described as an “inferior opponent” on paper only to see the Hawks fall short. Now, they are taking care of business, big and small.