Can Atlanta Hawks make it into 2023 NBA playoffs? Looking at chances of the team to make it past play-in tournament
The Atlanta Hawks are locked into the play-in tournament. They are in a battle for seeding, but have the edge to finish in eighth place. If that's the case, they will go on the road and likely take on the Miami Heat.
Atlanta (41-39), in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, trails seventh-place Miami (43-39) by two games. But even if the Hawks win their final two games and the Heat lose both of theirs, the tiebreaker, based on head-to-head competition, goes to Miami.
The Toronto (40-40) Raptors, in ninth place, are chasing Atlanta but need to win twice and have the Hawks lose twice to get a game ahead in the standings. A tie won't help Toronto, as Atlanta holds the tiebreaker.
Miami would be a tough matchup for Atlanta, which went 1-3 against the Heat this season. Miami's tough defense has given the Hawks problems. The Heat also have an experienced coach in Erik Spoelstra, who has won NBA titles and is one of the league's sharpest minds, and the tenacious Jimmy Butler, who often outperforms his season averages in clutch situations and tense playoff games.
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The winner of the 7/8 play-in game gets the No. 7 seed in the playoffs.
If the Hawks were to lose to the Heat in the 7/8 game on Tuesday, they would need to beat the winner of Wednesday's 9/10 game on Friday to advance to the playoffs. If they win that game, then they would be the No. 8 seed and play a best-of-seven series against the top-seeded Milwaulkee Bucks.
The 9/10 game will likely be between the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls (38-42). The Hawks went 2-1 against the Raptors and 2-2 against the Bulls. The Raptors would present the tougher matchup. Toronto is fourth in scoring defense in the NBA. The Raptors only allow 111.3 points per game. They have more defensive depth than the Bulls as well.
Atlanta will likely be the favorite against Chicago. The Bulls defense is no joke though as they are seventh in scoring defense, allowing just 112.2 ppg. The Hawks struggle on defense, ranking 24th in scoring defense.
The Atlanta Hawks have locked in a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament. https://t.co/N8rF4kvO4U
If the Hawks advance out of the play-in game as the No. 8 seed, they will be huge underdogs against the Bucks. Atlanta went a surprising 2-2 against Milwaukee this season. Atlanta scored 110-plus points in three of those matchups. Still, the Hawks have no defensive matchups to slow down the force that is Giannis Antetokounmpo and would face an uphill battle to advance past the first round.
Last season, the Hawks made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. They finished ninth in the East and won two games in the play-in tournament to advance. But they were dominated by the Miami Heat, losing in five games in the first round of the playoffs.