Once the Atlanta Hawks brought head coach Mike Budenholzer over from the San Antonio Spurs in 2013, one suspected it was only a matter of time before this team began resembling the reigning champions—or at least some nascent version thereof.
Atlanta hasn't yet established legends like a Tim Duncan or Gregg Popovich, but Tuesday's night's 107-104 win against the Los Angeles Clippers is only the latest reminder that this franchise has quietly ascended to the highest ranks of the Eastern Conference. The 21-7 Hawks are now just one half-game behind the top-seeded Toronto Raptors, and they've climbed the standings with quality wins against elite competition.
Their current five-game winning streak includes victories against the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
The Hawks have just one loss in their last 15 games, and they're getting help from all corners of an ensemble roster that has some undeniably Spurs-like qualities to it. DeMarre Carroll led the club with a career-high 25 points on Tuesday, doing his best three-and-D impersonation of Danny Green with a 5-of-6 performance from beyond the arc.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2309344-hawks-becoming-spurs-of-eastern-conference-and-tuesday-nba-takeaways
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