Atlanta Hawks: Is 2016 team finally hitting its stride?

The Atlanta Hawks have won three straight, playing great on both ends of the floor. Is the 2015-16 club beginning to hit its stride in the second half?

The Atlanta Hawks achieved its 30th win of the 2015-16 NBA season last night, outlasting the Indiana Pacers at Philips Arena, 102-96. That win was the Hawks’ first over the rival Pacers this season, gives Atlanta a three-game winning streak, and is in a third-place tie with the rival Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Standings.

Though it is only 52 games into the 2015-16 NBA season for the Atlanta Hawks, has this year’s club finally been able to hit its stride? Will Atlanta remain in first place in the Southeast Division and get home court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs? Does Atlanta have what it takes to challenge either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Toronto Raptors for a return trip to the Eastern Conference Finals?

Something must have resonated from within the Atlanta Hawks’ locker room after the embarrassing blowout loss in Miami on January 31st. Atlanta was on the wrong end of a beatdown by the rival Heat and thus relinquished its grip on the Southeast Division lead.

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In the three games since the blowout loss in South Beach, the Atlanta Hawks have scored at least 102 points in its last three games, while simultaneously keeping its opponent’s under 100 points. It took a while, February 2016, but it seems that the 2015-16 Atlanta Hawks have finally cultivated their new identity on the floor and it is translating into more frequent victories.

Keep in mind this isn’t last year’s team that finished No. 6 overall in offensive and defensive efficiency en route to a franchise record 60 wins. Atlanta will have to ride this current winning streak out the rest of the season to match its best single-season record to date, as the Hawks already have 22 losses on the year.

What Atlanta seems to have found from within is an actually improved defense-first identity. The Atlanta Hawks are No. 5 in the NBA in defensive rating and No. 7 in the Association in opponents’ points allowed. Earlier in the year, perimeter defense and offensive rebounding were again the issues for this club, but now both have improved in recent weeks to help give the Hawks a top 10 defense in the league.

Until very recently, the problem with this year’s Atlanta Hawks team had been its inconsistent offensive game. Head coach Mike Budenholzer had his team playing with more pace than in did last year to hopefully offset the Hawks’ declining three-point shooting. Atlanta had become too reliant on its jumpshooting in 2014-15 and it presented a problem early in the 2015-16 NBA campaign.

Though the Atlanta Hawks are still only in the middle of the pack in the NBA offensively, as they are 12th in points per game and 14th in offensive efficiency, it is actually not that big of a deal given how the Hawks have played on the defensive end of the floor. Being a top five defense better allows the Hawks to dictate the tempo of the game.

The shots will fall on the offensive end when they are going to, but a concerted effort to bring it every possession defensively will make the Atlanta Hawks a difficult matchup for anybody in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

So with an improving offense and a top five defense in the NBA, do the 2015-16 Atlanta Hawks have enough firepower on its roster to overtake either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Toronto Raptors to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals? Potentially, as we are only starting to see glimpses of the Atlanta Hawks playing their best basketball this year.

Toronto isn’t going to play any better than what they have done recently. Cleveland is great, but still seems like it is missing a key ingredient to essentially reaffirm their status as an Eastern Conference shoe-in for the NBA Finals.

Realistically, the 2015-16 Atlanta Hawks should have no issues getting to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they will have to face either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Toronto Raptors. At this point in the season, no, Atlanta isn’t likely going to get back to Eastern Conference Finals with the way all three of those teams are playing.

Next: Atlanta Hawks: Eastern Conference Power Rankings, Feb. 4

However, now that we are finally beginning to see the Hawks play its best basketball of the year, we’ll just have to wait and see how it stacks up against the two other teams that compose the Eastern Conference elite with your Atlanta Hawks. Let’s Go Hawks!

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