Hawks Look to Avoid Play-In with Late-Season Push
The Atlanta Hawks have produced inconsistent results from a team fighting for playoff contention this season. Currently sitting at four games below .500, the Hawks have a chance to avoid the Play-In Tournament altogether. They hold the ninth seed and are only four and a half games away from the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. Their next three games are crucial, as they face the Detroit Pistons, followed by the Miami Heat twice. Two of those games will be hosted on Atlanta’s home floor. The Hawks desperately need to stockpile wins, being that the Heat and Pistons are directly above them in the standings, with only four wins separating them.
The Hawks were big shoppers before the February 7th trade deadline, moving key pieces and bringing in solid role players. The most surprising was trading away the former fourth-overall pick in 2019, De’Andre Hunter. Hunter never developed into the player Atlanta hoped for, averaging just 14.3 points per game through the first five years of his career. Hunter was beginning to find his role with the team and was averaging a career-best 19 points per game this season and was becoming a strong presence on the defensive end. The Hawks felt this impressive stretch from Hunter was worth dealing with and decided to strike while the iron was hot. They would go on to receive draft picks along with versatile scorer Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, Terance Mann, and Bones Hyland. All viewed as great role players to help get Atlanta into the playoffs. The moves prove the front office is aiming for playoff success and not tanking for a lottery pick. A draft that includes freshman phenom Cooper Flagg. Post-trade deadline, the Hawks are 3-2 heading into the last 26 games of the season.
Superstar Trae Young has had an interesting month in the NBA. It began with him not being voted onto the NBA All-Star team. Young has posted 24 points per game and a career-high 11.4 assists per game this season, which leads the NBA. This was a shock to the NBA world, being that a player of his skillset and overall numbers missed the coach’s vote for the reserve team. Young is known to be a villain throughout the league and has held a bad reputation amongst coaches, players, and referees. He took to social media after the reserves were announced and tweeted, “& it’s no longer getting “snubbed” it’s getting “Traed” at this point. Sorry to my fans.. it’ll change eventually!” Young would go on to be named an alternate, replacing Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo after suffering an injury. Other news from Young came directly after the all-star weekend when the Hawks lost a crucial game to the Orlando Magic. The Magic are one game ahead of the Hawks in the Eastern Conference. Throughout the game, there were multiple questionable calls that were one-sided, favoring the Magic. Young voiced his frustration during his post-game press conference with the poor officiating while displaying explicit language multiple times. Young and the Hawks will now look to bounce back with back-to-back home games against Miami and Detroit. They need a strong finish to the season if they want to move up to the sixth seed and avoid the Play-In Tournament.
