Hawks might land in playoffs Monday

[Skyhawk1]

Securing a playoff berth without lifting a finger doesn't appeal to Joe Johnson's competitive nature.

But the Hawks' captain and All-Star isn't interested in the method the Hawks use to get there.

His only concern is that they get there.

That's why his mood was much better than expected after the Hawks' disappointing, come-from-ahead loss to Boston Saturday. It was their second blown chance to clinch a playoff spot in their past three games. They also could have sealed their bid with a win in Indiana last Tuesday, but got blown out by the Pacers.

The Hawks don't play again until Tuesday, but their magic number to clinch is one. The Hawks need to win either Tuesday against Orlando or Wednesday at Miami. The Hawks also clinch with a Pacers loss in their final two games. They play Monday night at Washington and Wednesday against New York.

"I saw a lot of good things out there," Johnson said after the Hawks' 99-89 loss to the Celtics, their first-round playoff opponent if they clinch. "We competed well and played the best team in the league toe-to-toe until the end. We made some mistakes that we'll have to clean up if we play the Celtics again, but I can't be mad about our effort."

Hawks coach Mike Woodson agrees.

"We just have to keep playing high energy basketball and bounce back when we play Orlando [Tuesday]," Woodson said.

They won't have to expend any energy tonight and could still celebrate the franchise's first playoff berth in nine seasons if Washington beats Indiana.

So the Hawks leave behind a missed chance to clinch before a raucous home crowd Saturday.

"You just have to move on and be ready for the next game because you can't get [this] one back," said Hawks rookie center Al Horford, the only player on the roster who played deep into the postseason last year

[Skyhawk1]

I hope we get some help from the Wizards. Our starters are worn out since Woodson plays them about 40 min a night. If we clinch tomorrow, then we might just give JJ and Bibby some rest, cause the playoffs are just a few days away and we got to at least compete with these guys.

[JoshB914]

I'm going to the game on Tuesday, but I would much rather Washington give us some help and it mean nothing. We need to get our starters as much as rest possible.

[conleyorbust]

I'm wouldn't go around boasting if we managed to back into the playoffs but believe me, I'd be happy inside that we actually made it.

[evildallas]

While the clinch could occur without the Hawks playing, it technically isn't backing in unless we lose out because if Atlanta wins it's remaining games the Indy losses didn't matter.

Of course, playoffs with a losing record is kind of backing in already.

[JoshB914]

It has been nine freaking years since we've played a playoff game, I can live with backing in.

[Retrovision]

Thank God I thought I would never see this day. Lets make sure to make philips arena a hard place to play come game 3 and 4.