Atlanta Hawks: Navigating the Playoffs

By Josh Barnhill | Apr 18, 2015

It’s playoff time for the Atlanta Hawks. As the #1 seed in the East it’s going to be a wild ride for Hawks fans as the possibility of a championship truly exists after so many years of reaching the playoffs without a realistic hope.

First round: Brooklyn Nets

Pretty much everyone is expecting this to be the most lop-sided series in the playoffs this year. Some folks have gone so far as to say it’ll be the only sweep.

I was excited on Wednesday night to not have to play the Pacers. A team that was starting to get hot, with playoff experience and a super star? Yikes. But it didn’t happen and the Hawks got the Nets instead.

Brooklyn won’t be a pushover, but they don’t seem all that motivated either. They’ve got Joe Johnson, Darren Williams and Brooks Lopez, yet still only managed 38 wins. They seem to turn it on when they have to – and the playoffs certainly fall under that scope – but do they have enough to gel and beat Atlanta?

The Nets seem too dysfunctional to really push the Hawks who are motivated and cohesive. It may not be a sweep, but it would seem unlikely this series gets back to Brooklyn for a second time.

Second Round: Toronto Raptors or Washington Wizards

Probably 9 out of 10 Hawks fans would rather see the Wizards in the 2nd round this year. For whatever reason, the Raptors have had Atlanta’s number winning three of the four games in the season series….that’s 14% of the team’s losses this year!

The Wizards, on the other hand, haven’t caused too much trouble. The Hawks are 3-1 with the only loss being last Sunday when Coach Budenholzer rested all the starters.

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This is the key round, the one the Hawks have never gotten past. By losing to the Bulls in the season finale they ensured themselves of missing the Cavs or Bulls in the conference semi-finals, which is no small thing. While the Raptors were in contention for the #3 seed, Derrick Rose’s injury held the Bulls back from gaining separation.

The Raptors and Wizards are two good teams. Their first round series has the potential to go seven games. Both squads were at the top of the Eastern Conference during the first two months of the season before the Hawks, Cavs and Bulls made their moves to the top.

Either way, the Hawks should have the advantage based on what they’ve been able to do in the regular season. In the back of all our minds, however, this series makes our collective palms sweaty.

Eastern Conference Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers or Chicago Bulls

You can forget about the Milwaukee Bucks or Boston Celtics as options here. If for some reason one of them were able to pull off the major upset in the first round, it’s dang near impossible they’d pull off back-to-back major upsets against both the Cavs and Bulls.

The great news for the Hawks is that these two teams – considered by many as the best two in the Eastern Conference despite the Hawks’ top seed – is that they’ll slug it out in the semi-finals, and Atlanta will only have to beat one of them rather than two.

Not that the Raptors or Wizards would be a breeze, because as I said the second round is circled on the calendar, but it won’t be the physical dogfight that playing the Bulls would be. Forcing Cleveland to beat the Bulls to get to the ECF is a big deal.

If the Cavs/Bulls series goes a full seven games you could see fatigue set in early in the ECF. At home, that could really give the Hawks an advantage and chance to go up 2-0. If so, it would make it extremely difficult on whoever the opponent is.

The fact that one of these teams will be eliminated from the playoffs before Atlanta can face them is huge. It’s the Hawks, Cavs, Bulls and everyone else in the East. Our reward is getting that top seed and avoiding one of them – so the challenge will be defeating the victor after they’ve been through hell to get there.

The Finals: Western Conference Champion

It’s hard to say who will make it out of the West. The Warriors are the favorite to win, but it could be a number of teams from the Rockets to the Clippers to the Spurs. Pretty much every one out of the West could win the conference with maybe the exception of the Pelicans who are very young.

Since the West is so tough, they’d be favored against the Hawks if we’re fortunate enough to make it. But that’s no different that the ECF, so the Hawks will just have to find a way to get it done to win a championship.

It will be no easy road, but the NBA Playoffs are as wide open as they’ve been in many years. There are no consensus teams to make or win the Finals. It should be exciting as the Hawks are right in the thick of championship contention.

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