Atlanta Hawks: Slump Continues for Hawks

After dropping a game to the Spurs the Atlanta Hawks have lost three in a row unable to stop the skid against less than impressive competition. Are the Hawks playoff chances over before the playoffs even arrive?

The same Atlanta Hawks team that has been surprise contenders over the last couple of seasons is now surprising in the opposite manner. Though they still sit 5th in a weak Eastern conference they have lost four games in a row and seem unable to find a rhythm.

More from Atlanta Hawks

Paul Millsap has been injured and will miss at least two more games with a knee injury while Kent Bazemore is out for an extended period of time as well. This severely hurts the Hawks depth and could be part of the reason their team has struggled over the last week.

Being a team that doesn’t have one sole player who is the guy to take the last shot has its pluses but it also hurts the team when one of their most important pieces goes down. It turns the Hawks into a team that can play with anyone but in turn also lose to anyone. The Hawks play to their competition seeming to struggle against even the worst of teams while hanging with the best teams in either conference.

Dennis Schröder is the point man of the offense and has had his struggles as well this season being suspended and benched on more than one occasion. Just as encouraging and exciting as his growth is it is worrisome how much trouble he has been in this season and is an indicator of what type of team the Hawks are.

They are a squad that on their best day can play with the likes of Golden State or Cleveland and on their worst get blown off the court by the League’s bottom feeders. That is the nature of team basketball and not having a clear leader or star player to help carry the team. When you are counting on five guys to provide an offensive spark as opposed to one or two key players simple math will tell you their chances are smaller the more players they are counting on.

That isn’t to knock the Hawks strategy that has brought them back to relevance rather to point out that at this time it is no longer working well for the team. The Hawks can still have playoff relevance and maybe even win a round or two but not having an elite scorer or anchorman who can turn the game around like every other team above them in the standings has will hurt them.

The Hawks are slipping in the standings and only a game away from slipping into 6th place with the season nearing its end it is unlikely that the Hawks fall out of the playoffs all together but if they are unable to show some consistency before seasons end it will be a moot point.

Next: Braves Bright Spots

Tonight’s game will be on ESPN against the Washington Wizards with tip off scheduled for 8:00 PM EST.

Home/Atlanta Hawks