Liam Boylen-Pett of SB Nation: “The Atlanta Hawks lost three of their first four games. They recovered nicely, winning six of nine to climb to a 7-6 record. They appeared ready to duplicate their previous few seasons, finishing with a record near .500 before bowing out early in the playoffs. Then Atlanta won 12 of 13 games and cemented itself as a serious contender in the Eastern Conference. A lot of that has to do with Kyle Korver, a 33-year-old journeyman guard who is having the best shooting season of his 14-year career. Korver is averaging 13.2 points per game for the Hawks, but it’s his dead-eye shooting that is opening up the Hawks’ offense. Korver is shooting an astounding 51.9 percent from the field, an even more astounding 53.9 percent from beyond the arc and 96.3 percent from the free-throw stripe. (He’s made 49 in a row, a Hawks record.) Korver is on pace for a historic year.”
Jared Johnson of Bleacher Report: “With 12 wins in their last 13 games, the Atlanta Hawks are the NBA’s hottest team. The squad boasts a league-leading point differential of plus-12.5 over its last 10 contests, according to ESPN’s Hollinger Power Rankings. The Golden State Warriors are a distant second at plus-8.5. But is Atlanta a legitimate title contender? It’s a question that deserves asking, considering the Hawks haven’t made the Eastern Conference Finals since joining the conference in 1970. To determine Atlanta’s ceiling, we’ll look at how it’s playing now, what it can do to improve and, ultimately, how well it can realistically finish the season.”
Buddy Grizzard of Hawks Hoop: “With consecutive wins over Eastern Conference contenders Chicago and Cleveland and Western Conference powerhouse Houston, the Atlanta Hawks are starting to make an argument that the team’s hot start is not fool’s gold. As recently as Nov. 29, the Hawks were giving up 106.6 points per 100 possessions and ranked 25th in defensive efficiency. Since then, the Hawks have won 12 of 13 games (including five wins over teams currently in playoff position) and moved to 7th in defensive efficiency, giving up only 100.6 points per 100 possessions, an improvement of better than six points. Although the Hawks’ strength of schedule remains the weakest in the NBA, the defensive improvement definitely represents a trend, rather than a blip. On Nov. 20 I wrote that the Hawks “look nothing like a contender.” But what about now? We typically associate contender status with teams that are top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency (the Hawks are ranked seventh in both) and have a substantial, positive point differential (the Hawks are outscoring opponents by 6.1 PPG, the second-best mark in the Eastern Conference).”
