RealGM

the Hawks keep winning and could, and will most likely, end up being the 4th best team in the east without Horford

this would end up having the Hawks face the Pacers or Sixers in the first round. Pacers have been competitive against the Hawks and the Sixers have blown out the Hawks. both teams are going to be tough and then the Hawks will then have to face the Heat or Bulls in the next round in a 7 game series.

I don't really care about having home court advantage against the Pacers or Sixers, i would much rather be on the road against the Magic. the Magic are a push over team, Collins and Zaza have no problem against Dwight and Josh can do what ever he wants against Ryan and Baby, and Teague and Willie have been dominating Jameer. i think the Hawks can sweep the Magic on the road and give the team much needed rest before going up against the Heat or Bulls.

i'm not sure if the Hawks should tank games, but i do think Drew should give the bench more minutes and limit Josh and Joe to 25mpg and if the Hawks lose a few games and have the 6th spot, then that would be great with the Magic as an easy first round meeting.

If healthy I'd be fine with playing either Indiana, Philly, or Orlando none of those teams are scary for us if healthy, however I'm totally against tanking, who knows it could backfire and get us the 7th seed in the first round playing the Heat or Bulls, we're not that far ahead of Boston in the seedings, and we have a boat load of games in only a few days now.

I'd want to play Indiana, IMO. Granger is beyond overrated and we match up well with them.

No, the Hawks should push forward in hopes of finishing 3rd. If you get to 3rd you still likely get Orlando or Indiana, but you also have home court. If you come up short you likely finish 5th, which could mean Boston or Philadelphia. Philly has had our number, but seem to be wearing down. Boston is beatable if we are healthy and can play up-tempo. Also I think confidence going into the playoffs is more important than which of the middle of the pack teams we could face in round 1. You try to get cute and orchestrate your opponent and you might give that opponent the extra boost to beat us in a series.

evildallas wrote:No, the Hawks should push forward in hopes of finishing 3rd. If you get to 3rd you still likely get Orlando or Indiana, but you also have home court. If you come up short you likely finish 5th, which could mean Boston or Philadelphia. Philly has had our number, but seem to be wearing down. Boston is beatable if we are healthy and can play up-tempo. Also I think confidence going into the playoffs is more important than which of the middle of the pack teams we could face in round 1. You try to get cute and orchestrate your opponent and you might give that opponent the extra boost to beat us in a series.

NO WAY ORLANDO DROP TO THE 6TH SPOT, unless their is some sort of meltdown. The 6th spot is either going to be the Sixers, Celtics, Pacers, or Knicks. i don't see the Magic going lower than 4th.

If we get the 3rd seed then Orlando is automatically dropped out of the top 4 to a 5-6 seed because Philly/Boston/New York are automatically guaranteed the 4th spot if they are their division winners.

The Hawks currently are behind Indiana by a few percentage points for the 5 seed so if the scenario holds true that Hawks can overcome the 2 game Orlando lead for the 3rd seed it's not at all inconceivable that the Pacers will also be able to maintain a run themselves forcing Orlando to the 6th seed.