The Atlanta Hawks playoff update with three games remaining
The Atlanta Hawks‘ loss against the Toronto Raptors is going to have deep playoff implications. It was always going to be a dangerous game because of the Raptors being such a well-drilled unit. The Hawks were in it right up until the final minutes but the Raptors were just too strong.
The loss was slightly mitigated by most of the other results of the day. However, that does not change the fact that if the Hawks won this game, they would have been closer to the seventh seed. Instead, they have slipped behind the Brooklyn Nets who won their game against the Houston Rockets thanks to the Hawks losing the season series 1-3.
In a bit of a shock, the Cleveland Cavaliers went down to the Orlando Magic. What is less of a shock is that the Charlotte Hornets went down to the Miami Heat. What is hard to believe is they lost by a big margin for the second straight game. Firstly the Philadelphia 76ers helped the Hawks out by giving the Hornets a basketball lesson and then the Heat spoiled Gordon Hayward’s second game back. Clearly, he is not having the impact on the squad that he would have hoped.
The Atlanta Hawks have put more pressure on themselves to win their last three games.
The Hawks are now looking likely to finish behind the Brooklyn Nets who face the New York Knicks, the Cavaliers, and in their final game they take on the Indiana Pacers. If the Nets win all three games, they will stay above the Hawks. If they lose one, the door is slightly open.
If the Cavaliers beat the Nets, they have to take on the Milwaukee Bucks in their final game. This leaves the door slightly open for the Hawks who should easily account for the Rockets. However, they have a tough game against the Washington Wizards as the second of their back-to-back today.
Next. Delon Wright is getting his flowers from Twitter. dark
Then the Hawks take on the Miami Heat who is one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference prior to the Rockets game. Despite now being a lock for the play-in tournament now, they can still fall to the tenth seed which will make it incredibly difficult to qualify for the playoffs. Even if they can get that far from tenth, they will be the eighth seed, meaning they have the toughest first-round matchup.