Atlanta Hawks Clinch No. 1 Seed In East For The First Time Since 1993-94

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— The 1 Seed (@ATLHawks) March 28, 2015

The Atlanta Hawks have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference tonight in an easy 99-86 win over the Heat in front of the Atlanta faithful in Phillips Arena; along with a Cavaliers loss to the Nets. It is the first time the Hawks have become the No. 1 seed in the conference since the 1993-94 Hawks, and the second time ever that the franchise has been atop the conference at season’s end. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Kyle Korver saying,

“It’s something to be excited about,” Kyle Korver said. “I’m sure we’ll talk about it on the plane a little bit. We have a lot of season left. We don’t want to be satisfied.”

Kyle also said that Coach Mike Budenholzer poked his head into the Hawks locker room to inform them that the Cavaliers had lost to Nets, and he gave them a simple congratulations on being the best team in the Eastern Conference. This is fitting, as the Hawks still have aways to go this NBA season. The AJC also has Kyle Korver saying,

”Korver said. “We think about it the right amount. We know we have 11 games left in the NBA season. You still want to focus on it. We are in a great position where we can try to be healthy and try to be fresh going into the first round. I think we think about it the appropriate amount.”

The Hawks season has been truly historic for them. They are on the verge of setting a franchise record of 57 wins in a season, set by the 1993-94 Hawks team. The Hawks are 55-17 right now with 11 games left, so they will be looking to pass that number and then some. The Hawks also won a franchise record 19 games in a row earlier this season, which is the longest in Atlanta pro sports history, in a stretch where they seemed to never lose games from December until February. Atlanta even went 17-0 in the month of January, and all 5 of the Hawks starters won player of the month in January! The next best thing the Hawks can do is to break that record for wins.

The Hawks biggest goal right now is to stay focused on winning games, and not coast to the finish line. The AJC quoted Kent Bazemore saying,

“The most important thing for us right now is to play like we are still chasing something,” Kent Bazemore said. “It’s a bad time to relax. You never know who you are going to face in the first round. Teams are going to be hungry. Target has gotten even bigger. Right now, we need to keep doing what we are doing, acknowledge it and move on because we are just starting to pick it back up and get back to our brand. It’s a bad time to relax.”

Kent hit it spot on. The Hawks cannot coast to the finish line and relax now, as they still have a lot of work to do in order to win an NBA Championship. The Hawks have not proven themselves as a team in the playoffs yet, and Dwyane Wade was asked about how he thinks that they will do in the playoffs after the game, and he said,

They’re a good team,” Wade said. “I haven’t seen them in a playoff atmosphere together, so I don’t know if they’re a contender tor not. But as far as the regular season, they’re a good team. There’s just no way around it. Everything else is left to be seen.”

Dwyane is exactly right. Having won championships before, he knows what it takes.

This Hawks team gave the Pacers a run for their money last season, but they have yet to win a playoff series. While the Hawks are a great team, they have not proven themselves in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how this great Hawks team performs in the Playoffs. The Hawks need to keep the momentum going that they have had all year so that they can stay hot heading into the playoffs. The Hawks look to prove themselves this year in the playoffs and make a deep run that hopefully for the city of Atlanta includes a championship.