I have always skewed towards optimism when it came to my Hawks over the years, and though I generally try to keep it real, I still am bound to look on the brighter side of things most times with them. That's why, in the most recent installment of "Ten Games At A Time", I picked them to win 6 of the 8 games on the December homestand. I wasn't sure they'd hit the mark, but again, with my sunny outlook, I thought they had a good shot at it. Of course, I thought they could do better, but I didn't want to seem like I was too giddy.

Then 7-1 happened, the team is a missed free throw away from potentially a nine-game winning streak, and at 20-10, Atlanta has shown that the 6-0 start they ran out to was no fluke.

As I discussed with Bob Rathbun on the Weekly Podcast on Monday, the game with Denver was kind of a statement game. Yes we beat Cleveland and Detroit, but those were both games you'd circle on the calendar before the season started. All the other wins on the homestand were against sub-.500 teams. Satisfied with 6 wins on the stand already, the Hawks could easily have lost to the Nuggets, one of the best teams in the NBA, if they came out flat.

But this is a new day, and these Hawks protect their home court. It wasn't a case of the Nuggets not playing well either - this game was close for most of the way until Atlanta took over down the stretch, and I like to think the Hawks D played a big role in the off nights had by Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Make no mistake, this was an impressive home win.

Now let's keep the momentum going (not to mention win some more free food for the office) with a revenge win Tuesday night at Indiana.