Atlanta Hawks: Paul Millsap Kicking On When It Matters

Anybody who has watched the Atlanta Hawks throughout the season knows that they’re going through one of their tougher patches right now. 82 games is a long time to stay on your A-game, and right now it’s clear the Hawks are feeling some of the effects. Luckily for them, the same can’t be said for their All-Star forward Paul Millsap.

Atlanta had only lost twelve games out of their first 61, but are now going through a spell of having lost five of their last 10. The reality is that the Atlanta Hawks have absolutely nothing to worry about.

This is a team that’s on track for more than 60 wins, a feat never previously accomplished in franchise history.

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This is a team that had a 19-game winning streak earlier in the season.

This is a team with four All-Stars.

This is a team with a coach who’s arguably the frontrunner for Coach of the Year.

And this is a team that has Paul Millsap.

When Millsap arrived in Atlanta as a free agent a couple of summers ago, everyone knew that the Hawks had snagged themselves a great value deal, but they weren’t sure just how good.

Millsap had been an outstanding contributor for many years in Utah, but had been left underrated by the circumstances of playing in the brutal Western Conference, and as part of a frequently deep frontcourt with the Jazz.

Coming to Atlanta, this was always going to be the opportunity for Millsap to move more towards the center of the stage, and he has seized it.

With Al Horford going down injured early last season, Millsap got the chance to stand up and be the alpha dog on a team, and he excelled in doing so. He not only picked up his first All-Star appearance, but he was the driving force in an injury-weary Hawks team pushing the number one seeded Indiana Pacers the distance in the first round of last year’s Playoffs.

Then on the other side of the coin, this year Millsap has had the opportunity to combine with Horford, and the pair have meshed seamlessly. That’s perhaps the greatest example of the 30-year-old’s biggest strength: he understands what his role is within a team, what he needs to do to help them win, and he cares about little else.

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Millsap has had an outstanding season, as have most of his teammates, yet it’s him that leads the team in a number of key statistical categories. Averaging 17.1 points per game, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals, Millsap has set the pace for the Hawks in a number of key areas, and stuffed the stat sheet as he has done throughout his career.

As impressive as those numbers are though, there are hints that Millsap is entering a further upswing in form.

In Atlanta’s last six games, they’ve lost to three of the West’s heavyweights (Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City) and received a lot of criticism as a result. If the Hawks looked out of rhythm as a team during any of that, the same couldn’t be said for Millsap though.

For his last six, the Louisiana native is averaging 20.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.0 steals, all while shooting 50 percent from the field.

Millsap has become so well-rounded that he’s a totally different proposition to play against compared to what he used to be. Come Playoff time he’s bound to cause mismatch nightmares for Atlanta’s opponents, and as long as the Hawks have him heading up their attack, they’re going to be a genuine threat.

Next: The Unheralded Return Of Shelvin Mack

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