Atlanta Hawks: 10 Points About The East’s Surprise Package

Dec 2, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) and guard Dennis Schroder (17) celebrate after a made basket against the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Celtics 109-105. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 2, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) and guard Dennis Schroder (17) celebrate after a made basket against the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Celtics 109-105. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 25, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) and guard Jeff Teague (0) celebrate after defeating the Washington Wizards 106-102. at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) and guard Jeff Teague (0) celebrate after defeating the Washington Wizards 106-102. at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

No Fluke

The last week has seen a lot of talk about the strength of the Hawks schedule, but the team can only beat what’s put in front of them, and to date they’ve done that with aplomb.

Teams like Golden State, Houston, Washington, San Antonio and the Clippers, have also done their early season work against sub .500 teams, and yet they won’t have that put against them as a slight.

There’s concrete evidence of progress over the last couple of seasons, to back up the fact that there’s more to the Hawks’ rise than a soft schedule or a dose of good fortune.

When Al Horford went down injured last season the team were ranked third in the East, and even without him, they pushed the number one seeded Indiana Pacers to the wire in a seven-game series.

These aren’t the Atlanta Hawks of old that we’ve all grown used to. This team is here to fight, scrap, compete, and most importantly, it seems they’re here to stay too. It looks like the league will just have to get used to them.

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