The Atlanta Hawks have been firmly in the second tier of the Eastern Conference this season, dominating non-playoff teams but struggling against the top half of the conference. Through 18 games, the Hawks have played 11 teams with records over .500 and seven teams with losing records.
Atlanta is 4-7 against teams with winning records and 7-0 against the losing teams. On the one hand, it is critical that the Hawks can handle their business against inferior competition. Too many teams try to run before learning to walk by looking ahead to dreams of playoff contention, despite not being fundamentally sound enough to beat bad teams. The Hawks have proven they can rack up easy wins this season; the challenge now is against their future playoff foes.
The Hawks have looked like two different teams when facing good teams vs. bad ones. When they play a team below .500, the Hawks dictate the tempo and feel in control from start to finish. While some games were closer than expected, you never thought during the match that Atlanta deserved to lose for any reason other than poor shooting luck over a small sample. Sometimes, that just happens (although Atlanta is still perfect against the bottom half).
The Hawks are yet to win a game against a healthy team with a better record
Against the top competition, Atlanta has done an excellent job of making each game close. Well, that is aside from the two humbling defeats to the Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder to start the season. They won a two-game series against the Orlando Magic and showed remarkable resolve to come back from a significant deficit against the Phoenix Suns. Their fourth win against winning teams came against a hobbled Los Angeles Lakers team that doesn’t really prove anything about the team.
They are, however, still in the second tier in the East (at least with Trae Young out). They lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, and Raptors (twice) and are projected to be the clear 4-5 seed in the conference. Of course, this has been without their star point guard.
With Young back, however, the Hawks could make the leap from a successful regular season team to real contenders. The East is wide open right now, and the Pistons don’t pass the smell test for a truly elite squad in my eyes. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong, but a team with no playoff experience and comparable star talent is a team Atlanta could beat if they hit their ceiling.