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Atlanta Hawks Just One Win Away from Validation

By Maxwell Ogden

May 13, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) restrains forward DeMarre Carroll (5) after an altercation with Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (not shown) during the second half in game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Wizards 82-81. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
May 13, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) restrains forward DeMarre Carroll (5) after an altercation with Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (not shown) during the second half in game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Wizards 82-81. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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At this point last year, the Atlanta Hawks were sitting at home with more questions than answers. Despite performing admirably in the 2014 NBA Playoffs, Atlanta finished a sub-.500 season with a first-round exit and soon entered a state of front office disarray.

Fast forward one calendar year and the Hawks are just one victory away from validation.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer has led Atlanta to an unprecedented turnaround. After going 38-44 in 2013-14, the Hawks secured the No. 1 record in the Eastern Conference with a 60-22 record in 2014-15.

That’s a 22-win improvement from one season to the next.

Despite their success, the Hawks have been labeled as an overachiever without much legitimacy in their championship aspirations. Most believed Atlanta could win in Round 1, but the general expectation was that it’d crumble in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

So far, so good.

With coach Budenholzer introducing the principles he acquired as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, the Hawks have an uncanny measure of poise and composure. Just as Gregg Popovich has done, Budenholzer has made the concept of leads and disadvantages obsolete.

It’s never been about how Atlanta starts, but how it finishes.

That was never more apparent than in Game 5, when Atlanta overcame Washington 82-81 at Philips Arena. The Hawks held the Wizards to just 34 second-half points and overcame what appeared to be another game-winner by Paul Pierce.

Most believed the game was over. Pierce thought the series was over.

Al Horford had a different idea of how things would end:

As they’ve done since Game 2 of the 2014-15 NBA regular season, the Hawks found a way to defy the odds.

Atlanta doesn’t have a conventional superstar or a dominant half-court shot-creator. There is no rival to LeBron James, nor is there a revered clutch performer with whom the last-shot duties reside, a la Pierce in Washington.

There’s just the name on the front of the jersey.

During an age during which every prominent team, including the Spurs, has at least one internationally-revered star, the average fan is still memorizing the names on Atlanta’s nominally ambiguous roster. That’s hard to believe when one considers it sent four players to the 2015 NBA All-Star Game.

With just one win to go, hype is beginning to be met by reality.

In a series that can be described as nothing short of a war, the Hawks have managed to pull ahead of the Washington Wizards 3-2. Fueled by buzzer-beaters and game-winners, neither team has given an inch.

The question is, can the Hawks solidify their place as one of the Eastern Conference’s elite with one more win?

Reaching the NBA Finals and winning a title is the goal for every team, but going from 38 wins to 60 wins and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance would be validation. The Hawks weren’t expected to be this good, but they are.

In every way, they continue to exceed expectations.

Losing in Round 2, however, would put an all-too-familiar damper on an otherwise great season. Not only would it be disappointing, but it would continue what’s been a horrifyingly consistent trend.

Atlanta has never once reached the Conference Finals.

The Hawks made it to the Division Finals under a previous postseason format, but that was in a distant 1970. The last time Atlanta won more than one postseason series was 1958, when it won the NBA title behind the heroics of Bob Pettit.

57 years later, the Hawks are still trying to buck the trend.

As exciting a time as this may be for Hawks fans, being up 3-2 and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals are very different things. This is, after all, an organization that hasn’t been able to get over the hump since the 1950s.

With one more example of poise, teamwork and starless power, the Hawks will reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Can they do it?

Next: Who should replace Monty Williams as the next head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans?

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