The Atlanta Hawks can't lose right now. Winners of nine straight, it's all good in The A as we enter the final month of the regular season. And while a near-double digit winning streak is never something to scoff at, it should be remembered who the Hawks have played in this stretch — not quite a murderer's row of opponents, in other words.
During this streak, the Hawks have beaten just one team with a record above .500; the Philadelphia 76ers, who were without Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe. Now, before Hawks fans march to my front door and demand answers, I will clarify that I do still believe the Hawks are playing far, far better basketball than they were to start the year.
But I think it's also fair to still have reservations about the potential of this Hawks team, considering their hot stretch has come mostly at the expense of teams that are happy to lose.
In other words, the Hawks probably need a few signature wins to wrap up the year for fans to really get behind this defense-first movement from Quin Snyder's team. They'll have plenty of chances for those wins, too, with two games against Boston, two against Cleveland, and two against Orlando still looming.
Hawks are beating who is in front of them during winning streak
No, the teams in front of them haven't been particularly threatening and all but one game has been at home, but the Hawks didn't make their schedule!
It's also important to note that teams can beat a bunch of bad teams and still not be playing high-level basketball. That hasn't been the case for the post-All Star break Hawks. They're beating bad teams, but beating bad teams in the way good teams beat bad teams... That makes sense, I swear.
It's also very possible for a team to, essentially, trick themself into becoming a good team. Enough wins stockpiled on top of each other will build confidence, no matter who those wins came against. I think that's where the Hawks find themselves now; nine straight wins will cause this team to think they can beat anyone on any given night — and maybe they can! With the No. 6 net rating over the past 15 games, the Hawks aren't going to take the court with the attitude of, "Well, those wins weren't that impressive."
The Hawks still have to prove that this new, exciting version of the team can hang with the top teams in the East. But it's not their fault they haven't gotten a chance to do that since the All-Star break. Until that happens, keep beating the bad teams! They count all the same.