The Hawks Blog: Road to the Playoffs

I like to break long seasons down into stretches. During the regular season, the Hawks were not the streakiest team ever but they did cause me to suffer from frequent mood swings. The following is a look back at the ups and downs of the Hawks 2009-2010 regular season.

10/28/09-11/20/09

Record During Stretch: 11-2

Overall Record: 11-2

The Hawks got off to an excellent start to the season, immediately serving notice that they were serious about taking that next step as a team. They opened the year with back to back 11 point wins over Indiana and Washington at home. Their first loss of the season came in just their 3rd game, as they had to go on the road to play the Lakers, but they hung tough with the defending champs. They showed us something by winning in Portland a few nights later, and then whipped Sacramento on the road to go to 4-1. The last game of the first road trip was in Charlotte and the Hawks continued to struggle with the Bobcats, as they suffered their first non-competitive loss of the year, losing by 20. All things considered, however, a 4-2 start was just fine, and the Hawks were about to go on their longest win streak of the season.

From November 7th to the 20th the Hawks won 7 in a row. But this wasn’t just a win streak; they did it against some tough teams. They started the streak with a 20 point win over the Nuggets at home. Then after winning by double digits in New York, the Hawks went up to Boston and beat their rivals at the new Boston Garden. This was one of the biggest wins of the season. In my opinion, this was perhaps the biggest regular season win for the Hawks in a decade. They had lost 9 straight in Boston, including all 4 in the first round of the 2007-2008 playoffs, each loss coming in decisive fashion. Furthermore, the way that the Hawks won this game was impressive. They out hustled and out muscled the Celtics, winning by 9 points. The Hawks returned to Atlanta and completed a stellar 4-0 home stand, destroying New Orleans, beating Portland in OT, winning by 15 over the Heat, and pulling out a tight, 2-pt win over the Rockets. That gave them a 7 game win streak and an 11-2 record to start the season. The Hawks were in 1st place in the Southeast. It was at this point that I came to a startling conclusion. The Hawks were a great team.

11/21/09-12/4/09

Record During Stretch: 2-4

Overall Record: 13-6

The Hawks win streak ended with a loss in New Orleans. They then returned home for a big game against the team they were competing with for the division title, the Orlando Magic. It turned out to be one of the most disappointing performances of the entire season. The Hawks were coming off of 4 full days of rest, while the Magic had lost the night before to the Heat at home, but the defending Eastern Conference champs came into Atlanta and won convincingly. It really wasn’t close in the 2nd half, as the Magic dominated the inside game and controlled the boards throughout, dealing the Hawks a 17 point defeat, their first loss at home all season.

The Hawks rebounded with a 14 point win at Philly the following evening, but then on Sunday afternoon they suffered their first truly bad loss of the year in Detroit. Against a Pistons team that had lost 7 in a row and was playing without Richard Hamilton, Tayshun Prince, and Ben Gordon, the Hawks were thoroughly whipped on the boards and lost a game in which they simply got outworked. The Pistons even lost Charlie Villanueva to a broken nose during the game but still led throughout and beat the Hawks by 6. The Hawks had a home game against Toronto next and that seemed like just what the doctor ordered for a team looking to get back on a roll, as the Raptors refrained from playing any sort of defense, allowing the Hawks to score 146 points in a 31 point rout.

In hindsight, it may not have been such a blessing, because the Hawks tried to play a similar type of game against the Knicks at home a couple of nights later and it wound up biting them in the ass. In one of the more disturbing games of the season, the Hawks fell at home to the lowly Knicks, to the delight of the New York fans in attendance at Phillips. Josh Smith was ejected, the Hawks trailed by double digits at the half, and they wound up losing by 7, for their 2nd home loss of the year, to a Knicks team that had lost 6 of their last 7. It was the Hawks 4th loss in their last 6 games, and I was forced to consider the possibility that we hadn’t taken quite as big a step forward as I had believed 2 weeks earlier.

12/5/09-12/18/09

Record During Stretch: 6-0

Overall Record: 19-6

Thankfully the Hawks responded to their first rough stretch of the season by going on a 6 game win streak, their 2nd longest of the season, and their only other winning streak of more than 4 games. It started with a return to defense and a huge road win over the Mavericks. The Hawks weren’t playing against the same level of competition as they had been during their 7 game win streak, but 5 of the 6 wins during this streak came by double digits. And really, taking care of business and pounding weak competition was just as positive a sign as beating great teams would have been at this point. The Hawks beat the Jazz by 13 at home on December 18th to win their 6th in a row and improve to 19-6 after 25 games. This helped restore the high hopes of earlier in the year which had been dampened by the losses to Orlando, Detroit, and New York. At the end of play on the 18th, the Hawks were back in 1st place in the Southeast, percentage points in front of Orlando.

12/19/09-1/4/10

Record During Stretch: 2-6

Overall Record: 21-12

It looked like the Hawks would match their season high win streak of 7 games and likely surpass it, but the nice run came to a disappointing end, as they blew a late lead and lost in overtime to the Bulls in Chicago. They wound up going 2-2 on the trip, blowing out Indiana and Minnesota, and losing by 20 at Denver. They then returned home for a daunting back to back set with the top team in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unfortunately, the game against the Cavs at Phillips was very reminiscent of the first game against the Magic at home. The Hawks played out of control on offense and lost the inside battle on both ends. It was never really that close, and the Cavs won by 11. The Hawks now had to pull out a win at Cleveland the next night just to get a split. Almost nobody wins in Cleveland but the Hawks were in great position to do so. They had an 8 point lead in the 4th, but Lebron James took over, and the Hawks were the victim of a blown call by the officials that ended up costing them the game. It was a very disappointing defeat, but it was nowhere near as hard to swallow as the next loss on the night of January 1st. For the 2nd time in the span of about a month the Hawks somehow lost to the Knicks at home, this time with Nate Robinson basically beating the Hawks by himself. The game went to overtime and the Hawks wound up losing by 4. Things were starting to pile up for the Hawks.

A few days later they went to Miami and played one of their least competitive games of the season, losing by 17 to a mediocre Heat team they had toyed with previously in the season. The Hawks had now lost a season worst 4 straight and 6 of their last 8. They were 3 games back of the Magic in the division and I was worried that the quest for a special season could end soon. It wasn’t only the current slump, but also the tough schedule the Hawks faced ahead that had me thinking that perhaps thoughts of competing with the elite teams in the East had been premature.

1/6/10-1/25/10

Record During Stretch: 8-2

Overall Record: 29-14

It’s possible that the Hawks season long 4 game losing streak would have become a much longer slump, if not for the fact that the next game on the Hawks schedule was almost certainly the most winnable game they could possibly have had. At that time, it didn’t get any easier than a home game, after a day off, against the 3-31 Nets who had played the night before. The Hawks won by 30 to snap the 4 game losing streak. It would be the only time all season that the Hawks lost more than 2 games in a row.

But now the Hawks had to get ready for stiffer competition, as they faced a crucial 4 day stretch, during which they would face Boston at home and on the road, as well as the Magic in Orlando. First the Celtics came to town. Just as they had in the playoffs a couple years earlier, the C’s found the Highlight Factory to be a hostile environment. The Hawks won decisively again, taking the victory by 8 points. This was really a big win—it’s always big to beat Boston—because the Hawks were less likely to win either of the next 2 games, and if they had lost this one it was easy to see them sandwiching a 4 game losing streak and now a 3 game losing streak around a home win over the Nets. That wouldn’t have been pretty. It definitely wasn’t pretty the next night in Orlando, as the Hawks were pummeled by the Magic in a 32 point loss. Going into the game the Magic had lost 4 in a row to mediocre and below mediocre teams, and they had played the night before just like the Hawks. It was this game, coming on the heels of the win over Boston, that convinced me that the Magic would be the toughest matchup for the Hawks in the playoffs, including any of the teams from the West that they might meet in the NBA Finals.

There was no time for the Hawks to sulk, as they had just one day off before a date with the Celtics in Boston. It seemed unreasonable to expect the Hawks to beat the Celtics for the third game in a row and the second straight time in Boston, but they did it. Having gone 2-1 in the 3 games in 4 days stretch against Boston and Orlando, the Hawks were now able to take some confidence into a nice 5 game home stand. The Hawks would go 4-1 in those games, pulling out a miracle win against Phoenix, losing a tight game to the surging Thunder, and beating 3 weaker teams by double digits. The schedule was about to get very tough again. Their next game—a road contest against Houston—was a big one, because while it wouldn’t be easy, it was winnable, and there were much tougher games ahead. The Hawks took care of business in Houston for their 8th win in 10 games. At the end of play on January 25th the Hawks were 29-14 and once again alone in 1st in the Southeast, a game in front of the Magic.

1/27/10-2/21/10

Record During Stretch: 5-6

Overall Record: 34-20

The next game was in San Antonio where we never play well, and the Hawks lost by 15 to the Spurs. Next up was another Friday night game against the Celtics in Atlanta. The Hawks again won handedly, taking a 9 point win to complete an improbable 4 game season sweep of the Celtics. I believe this is the single greatest feat the Hawks have achieved in at least the last decade. Perhaps not surprisingly, number two on my list would be taking the eventual NBA champion Celtics to a 7th game in the first round of the 2007-2008 playoffs.

Once again, the Hawks would have to play the Magic right after playing Boston, and it would be on the road without a day off in between. The Hawks had a half game lead over Orlando, so this game was for the lead in the Southeast. Despite the fact that the season was more than halfway over, the Hawks lead in the Southeast seemed hollow, mostly because you expected the Magic to stop losing games that they should win at some point. It was also because the Magic had beaten the Hawks so convincingly in their first two meetings. They would win convincingly again in this game, whipping the Hawks by 18 points.

The Hawks had to travel to Oklahoma City next. They had lost to OKC already at home and the Thunder were much tougher at their place. The Hawks lost to the Thunder again for their 3rd loss in 4 games, but the rest of the schedule leading up to the All-Star break was much easier to deal with. The Hawks had to fight harder than expected to beat the Clippers and Bulls at home, and they were then expected to fly to Washington for a game against the Wizards. But the terrible weather conditions in that part of the country caused the postponement of the game. I was worried that this would end up coming back to hurt us, but in the end it amounted to nothing. If anything it may have helped us.

The Hawks beat the Grizzles by double digits on the road and then game home to play the Heat the next night in the final game before the break. The Hawks came out with a surprising and disheartening performance, losing by 18 points to Miami. It wasn’t all that shocking, as you could understand the Hawks being a bit checked out and ready for the break. But it was disappointing, as it ended the “first half” on a bad note, and because the Heat were a possible first round matchup, and a team that had taken the Hawks to 7 games in the first round the previous season.

The Hawks went to the break with a 33-18 record and they began the final 31 game stretch with a trip to the west coast. After whipping the Clippers in the first game after the break, the Hawks hung around with the Suns in Phoenix but wound up losing by 8. The Hawks then headed to the Bay Area to face the Warriors in the always hostile environment of Oracle Arena. The Warriors had only 8 healthy players and had lost 11 of their last 13 games. It was a game the Hawks knew they should win and for most of the night it appeared they would do so, as they built an 18 point second half lead and took a 17 point lead to the 4th. However, it soon turned into an early morning nightmare (for fans back in Atlanta), as the Warriors scored 16 straight points to tie the game. Then in the final moments, Jamal Crawford drew a hideous technical foul (I believe any ref that calls a technical foul on a player for complaining during the 4th quarter of a tight game should be suspended) that proved to be the nail in the coffin, as the Hawks lost 108-104, being outscored 35-14 in the 4th quarter. The sickening loss left the Hawks just 5-6 over the last month and they were now 2.5 games behind the Magic in the Southeast.

2/22/10-3/21/10

Record During Stretch: 11-4

Overall Record: 45-24

Fortunately the Hawks were able to get a big win the next night that helped them get past the loss at Golden State. They ended the road trip by winning the next night against the Jazz, in perhaps the toughest place to play in the NBA. The fact that Deron Williams didn’t play certainly made the result less impressive, but that really didn’t take much away from it for Hawks fans who were looking for a reason to feel good. In a way, it kind of canceled out the loss against the Warriors because going into the road trip you hoped to go 2-2 and the Hawks were able to do that.

But there was another sickening collapse just ahead. After a blowout win over Minnesota at home, the Hawks welcomed in the new and improved Mavericks for a showdown at Phillips on a Friday night. The Hawks suffered another come-from-ahead loss, this time blowing a 15 point 4th quarter lead and losing in overtime. This one was one of the worst losses of the year for me. Perhaps the worst moment of the season occurred when Jason Kidd intentionally ran into Mike Woodson (who was not actually on the court by the time Kidd made contact with him; a point I have still not heard anyone else make) and got the refs to call a technical foul.

Again the Hawks were able to put the loss behind them and win a tough game in their next time on the court, fighting off the much improved Bucks in overtime at home. The Hawks then blew out the Bulls in Chicago and took care of business against the Sixers and Warriors at home. Suddenly they had won 4 in a row and they were starting to put the losses to Golden State and Dallas behind them. Unfortunately, the streak ended with back to back tough defeats. They lost on the road at Miami, their 2nd straight defeat to the Heat. They then did the unthinkable, losing for a 3rd consecutive time to the Knicks, this time losing by a point at Madison Square Garden on a put back at the buzzer.

The Hawks were supposed to have 4 days off after that but instead they would go to Washington to make up the game with the Wizards. The Hawks won their 41st game of the year to take the bad taste out of their mouths from the loss to the Knicks. However, the blown leads and losses to bad teams did have a tangible effect on the season because they essentially knocked the Hawks out of the race for the Southeast Division. The Magic did eventually play better while the Hawks stumbled and thus it became a race between the Hawks and Celtics for the 3rd spot.

The Hawks came home and beat the Pistons by 13 to clinch a winning record for a 2nd straight season with their 42nd win. The next game was in New Jersey and they crushed the Nets by 24 before heading on to Toronto to face the Raptors. The Hawks looked to have the game won but they ended up getting beat on a last second shot to lose by a point. It was a heart breaker. That was the start of a dramatic stretch of the season during which the Hawks played 5 straight games that went to the buzzer. They returned home and had to fight off a furious effort by the Bobcats to win in OT. On Sunday they pulled out an OT thriller over the Spurs at Phillips for their 45th win of the season and their 5th win in their last 6 games.

3/22/10-4/7/10

Record During Stretch: 4-5

Overall Record: 49-29

The night after beating the Spurs the Hawks were up in Milwaukee playing the Bucks, a scary team who they had a good chance of meeting in the first round of the playoffs. The Hawks played the Bucks down to the wire but ended up losing by 3. The Hawks then got a day off before the Magic came to Phillips. It was the Hawks last shot at Orlando this season. After getting demolished by the Magic in 3 previous matchups, the Hawks finally played their game against Orlando and they had a chance to win. With the game tied, Josh Smith went up and dunked down an offensive rebound to give the Hawks the win at the buzzer.

That victory, which offered hope that perhaps the Hawks could compete with the elite Magic, was followed up by another troubling road loss to a bad team, as the Hawks lost by 7 to the 76ers. The Hawks came home next and beat the Pacers by 14. Next up, the Lakers came to Phillips for their only visit of the year on the final day of March. The largest crowd in Phillips Arena history turned out and for once the Lakers fans were drowned out constantly by the fans of the home team. The Hawks dominated the Lakers from start to finish, winning by 17.

Having beaten the team with the best record in the West, the Hawks went up to Cleveland for a showdown with the team with the best record in the NBA. Once again the Hawks had a chance to win in the end, but Lebron willed the Cavs to victory, beating the Hawks by 5. The next day the Hawks pulled out a tougher than expected win over the Pistons at home to pull within 1 win of 50. Unfortunately, the Hawks would have to wait a while to get that 50th win. They struggled as always in Charlotte, losing by 9 to the Bobcats, but it looked like their 50th win would come the next night in Detroit. The Hawks led most of the night but they faltered down the stretch and dropped another very winnable road game. It was their 6th straight road loss and their 8th loss in their last 9 road games. This was a very discouraging trend, as it didn’t bode well for the playoffs, where the Hawks had been 1-8 on the road the previous 2 seasons.

4/9/10-4/14/10

Record During Stretch: 4-0

Overall Record: 53-29

With 4 games remaining in the season the Hawks were tied with the Celtics for the 3rd best record. Despite the fact that the Hawks had won the season series 4-0, the Celtics would win the tie-breaker because of a typically stupid NBA rule that gave preference to a division winner. The Raptors were without Chris Bosh when the Hawks beat them at home on April 9th for their 50th win of the season. The Celtics lost at home to the Wizards that night and the Hawks moved a game ahead of them in the standings with 3 games left. The next night the Hawks went to Washington and beat the Wizards to snap their road losing streak and stay a game up on the Celtics. On Monday the Hawks went back up to Milwaukee where the Bucks were still battling for playoff position but were now without Andrew Bogut. The Hawks won handedly for their 2nd straight road victory, also gaining some confidence in case they did indeed face the Bucks in the playoffs. The next night the Celtics lost in Chicago, clinching the #3 seed for the Hawks. The Hawks hosted the Cavs in the final regular season game of the year but neither team had anything to play for and thus it was a game played entirely by reserves. The Hawks won by 16 to finish the regular season with 53 wins and head into the postseason on a 4 game win streak.