NBA Playoffs 2012: Atlanta Hawks Are Sleepers to Watch in the East

With so much attention drawn to the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, it's easy to forget other teams in the Eastern Conference even exist—much less any teams capable of reaching the NBA Finals.

As hard as it is to believe, the Atlanta Hawks just may be that team.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Atlanta is doomed. In all likelihood, the Boston Celtics are set to meet the Hawks in the first round, and no one is eager to mess with Doc Rivers' club, given their dominance since the All-Star break.

Even without Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, Boston lost by just five points to Atlanta on April 20.

Nevertheless, a closer look at this matchup is revealing. Despite lower seeding, the Hawks will likely hold home-court advantage in the series, which is a bad sign for a Celtics team that is 15-18 on the road this season.

It would be a good sign for the Hawks, though, as they are 21-10 at home.

Atlanta could also get a big addition in the postseason if center Al Horford can return in time. Even with some rust after missing nearly all of this season, he'd give Atlanta a deeper and better frontline.

That could be crucial against these Celtics, who rank dead last in the league in rebounding. 

When Joe Johnson and Josh Smith are clicking, the Hawks can be a tough out. This may not be a team with a lot of star power, but it does have a speedy and talented point guard in Jeff Teague as well as Marvin Williams, who has discovered how to spot up for three-pointers (and hits 38 percent of them). 

There's no question the Celtics are still the better team, but Atlanta isn't far behind. Boston's two victories over the Hawks were by three and two points, respectively. If Atlanta can survive Boston, you can imagine the Hawks gaining some momentum with a better-acclimated Horford in the middle.

What happens next, though, largely depends on whether or not Derrick Rose can stay healthy. The Hawks might prefer to play the Heat given how their regular-season series played out, but if Rose regresses, anything is possible against the Bulls.

This is also an Atlanta team that's quietly made it to three consecutive conference semifinals, so the urgency to get to that next level has to be there.

These guys aren't the sexiest of picks, but sometimes those are the most motivated ones.