Here's Why Atlanta Hawks Can Keep Hot Streak Going All Season Long
The 37-8 Atlanta Hawks are in the midst of an historic season, one in which they are on pace to win the most games in the team's history.
A franchise-record 16-game (and counting) undefeated streak? Check. Thirty victories in their last 32 games? Check. Convince the NBA world they are legitimate championship contenders? Not yet.
It seems whatever the Hawks do, it's not enough. Even though Atlanta boasts the Eastern Conference's top record by 6.5 games, Hoopstuff's Mike Elworth doubts the team has enough talent to challenge for an NBA title. Even Bleacher Report's own Ric Bucher labeled Atlanta a pretender, saying he doesn't "see the formula for postseason success, when it slows down and when it becomes a game of stars."
I will state my case as to why the Hawks will continue their success through the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs.
Atlanta Has Elite Players
Hawks detractors love pointing out how the team lacks a star, a go-to-guy who can consistently provide for his team in times of need.
So, are they just pretending Jeff Teague doesn't exist, or what?
The 26-year-old floor general is averaging career highs in points (17.2) and assists per game (7.5) despite notching his lowest minutes per contest (31.4) since his sophomore season. His player-efficiency rating (22.7) and win shares per 48 minutes (0.216) top all East guards.
Teague produces in the clutch, as well. According to NBA.com, his player impact estimate in the fourth quarter of games is 21.9. Of everyone who has played at least half of their team's games, the Hawks point guard is No. 4 in the league—behind just Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
And please save all of your "product-of-the-system" comments—Teague is assisted on just 29.7 percent of his baskets, even though the rest of his team receives a dime on 75.1 percent of its field-goal makes.
Let's take a look at how Teague's shot-creating skills stack up against some of the East players who national media often consider to be superstars.
| Own Baskets | Rest of Team | Difference | |
| J. Teague | 29.7 | 75.1 | 45.4 |
| J. Wall | 26.1 | 71.3 | 45.2 |
| K. Lowry | 31.3 | 59.0 | 27.7 |
| D. Wade | 37.0 | 63.6 | 26.6 |
| L. James | 38.9 | 63.5 | 24.6 |
| J. Butler | 63.5 | 57.9 | -5.6 |
As you can see, only John Wall of the Washington Wizards rivals Teague's ability to produce his own shooting opportunities.
Now, I'm not going to discount the elite abilities of Atlanta's two versatile big men, Paul Millsap and Al Horford. Both have received All-Star recognition in the past and deserve it again this year.
But Teague is the Hawks' real catalyst, the one guy who has played like a superstar in 2014-15.
Atlanta Is Nearly Impossible to Stop Offensively
Most teams, even good ones, keep at least one offensively-challenged player in their starting lineups—the Golden State Warriors have Andrew Bogut, the Toronto Raptors have Amir Johnson, the Cleveland Cavaliers have Timofey Mozgov and the Los Angeles Clippers have Matt Barnes, to name just a few. All of the aforementioned players have their own abilities, but their counterparts don't exactly wear themselves out defending them.
Do the Hawks have one of those players in their starting unit? Nope.
Put yourself in the position of a team scouting the Hawks for an upcoming game—how would you defend this group?
Teague: Top-tier floor general, great shooting, passing and driving ability (17.2 points per game)
Kyle Korver: League's best spot-up three-point shooter, underrated passer (12.9 ppg)
DeMarre Carroll: Solid three-point shooter and cutter (11.7 ppg)
Millsap: Strong and athletic, can shoot from three, pass, dribble, finish in the paint (16.9 ppg)
Horford: Mobile center, great mid-range game and nice touch inside (15.1 ppg)
To properly contain this unit, it is an absolute necessity to guard each player with an average to above-average defender. If anyone takes plays off or helps unnecessarily, the Hawks will take advantage.
Not surprisingly, Atlanta's starting lineup has an offensive rating of 113, per 82games.com. That number would rank No. 1 in the NBA, if the Hawks played the unit 48 minutes per game.
The offensive weak link of the group is DeMarre Carroll, but that's by no means an insult to the Junkyard Dog, because he can go off at any time, as he showed on Dec. 23 against the Clippers.
Several plays in the above highlight, Barnes thought it would be wise to sag off a little bit on the defensive end, since he was only guarding Atlanta's No. 5 option.
That probably wasn't the best idea.
Unless one player from the Hawks' starting lineup gets injured (knock on wood), Atlanta will continue to give the rest of the league fits with its balance.
Atlanta Is a Top Defensive Team
The Hawks currently rank No. 3 in the NBA in defensive rating (102.6). During the winning streak, that number has plummeted to a stingy 99.3 (excluding Sunday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves).
You wouldn't necessarily think the Hawks would be able to shut down opponents' offenses—they lack a truly elite defender on both the perimeter and the interior. But through precise rotations, solid communication and smart decisions, Atlanta remains one of the league's most difficult teams to score on.
Thankfully, good defense is traditionally a key ingredient for postseason success. While a team can have an off night shooting, a quickly rotating, focused defense doesn't have to worry about bad games.
The past 10 NBA champions have an average defensive ranking of 4.7, and no team since the 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers has won a title without a top-10 defense.
With its No. 3 ranking in defensive rating, the Hawks have distanced themselves from the Wizards (No. 7), Chicago Bulls (No. 12), Raptors (No. 20) and Cavaliers (No. 25).
A note to the rest of the league: Have fun figuring out how to score on Atlanta.
Atlanta's Streak Is a Good Sign
A 16-game win streak, which the Hawks are currently on, is a good sign in and of itself. Very few teams have the resolve and talent to come out that many nights in a row and outplay their opponents.
But the way the Hawks have won has been even more impressive.
Nine of Atlanta's 16 wins have come against teams at or above .500, and nine of them have also come on the road. Only the contest against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 9 came right down to the wire, with the Hawks winning 106-103. Overall, Atlanta has outscored its opponents by 12.1 points per game.
Before this season, the last two teams to win at least 16 consecutive tilts were the 2012-13 Miami Heat (27 games) and the 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs (19 games).
Both of those squads won the NBA championship in the same year.
Conclusion
No, the Hawks won't go undefeated the rest of the season, and they are by no means a lock for the NBA title, or even a spot in the Finals.
But they should finish out the regular season and playoffs well, considering the completeness of the team and the remarkable chemistry it has shown through the first half of the campaign.
The Minnesota Timberwolves' Mo Williams put it best when he tweeted the following message prior to his team's Sunday evening contest against the Hawks, presumably referring to Atlanta's cohesive squad:
"It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit
— Mo Williams (@mowilliams) January 25, 2015"
The Atlanta Hawks are a title contender. Pretty obviously, in fact.
Note: All record- and streak-related statistics are from Basketball-Reference.com and updated through Jan. 26, while all season statistics are updated through Jan. 25, unless otherwise indicated.
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