With a chance to make up much of the ground they lost in the last couple of weeks, the Atlanta Hawks let yet another opportunity slip through their fingers. Facing the resurgent Orlando Magic, the Hawks lost 119-108 in a game they sorely needed to win.
The Hawks are guaranteed a postseason appearance, but they can still fall out of prime position in the Play-In Tournament.
They could still fall as low as No. 10, as the NBA reminded everyone on Monday morning.
Having dropped six of their last eight games, the Hawks are now 2.0 games behind the Magic, whom they will face again on Sunday. Their lead over the Chicago Bulls for the No. 8 spot remains at 1.0 games after the latter lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
However, the Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday to cut their deficit behind the Hawks, which now also stands at 1.0 games following Atlanta’s loss.
The Heat will face the Bulls on Wednesday.
The Hawks visit the Brooklyn Nets that day. Brooklyn snapped a two-game skid with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Atlanta will travel to Philly before hosting the Magic to close out the regular season.
Hawks falling short of Trae Young’s message
The Hawks’ recent woes only serve to amplify comments from Hawks star Trae Young, who had 28 points and 10 assists versus the Magic, about making the playoffs.
“We keep bringing up the postseason, but we not even there yet, you know what I’m saying? And, obviously, when you get to the Play-In, you’re still not even technically part of the postseason. In some people’s eyes, you may be. But for me, it’s not. It’s the playoffs. So I don’t even want to think about the postseason,” Young told reporters on April 6, after that win over Utah.
“We’re locked into the Play-In, but we still got to win some games there. So we got to figure out how to get ourselves in a good position when we get into the Play-In to get a win and move on to the postseason. So that’s all I want to see, is just us continue to get better, take it one game at a time in these next three, or four, however many left we have in the season and put ourselves in a good spot to end.”
That is why the Hawks cannot afford to lose any more ground.
As long as they finish with the No. 8 seed or better, the Hawks will get two chances to make the playoffs. They would face single elimination, needing to win twice to advance to the real postseason, if they fell to No 9 or 10.
The offseason will bring more roster decisions, potentially even on Young, who has two more years on a five-year, $215.1 million contract and a player option for the final season in 2026-27.