Hi there! It's me again, with another update to the Hawks magic number situation. As you may (or may not) have noticed, we've updated the magic number again this morning, shifting it back from 1 to 2.

After a discussion with the Elias Sports Bureau this morning, it turns out that there are still some three- and four- (and five!) way ties that could happen if the Hawks finish with 43 wins that could still see Atlanta on the outside looking in. There are too many variables to get into, and keep in mind most of the scenarios are incredibly unlikely (I for one don't imagine the Hawks will lose the rest of their games while Charlotte wins out, for example), so they aren't really worth worrying about too much, but the bottom line is it does in fact mean the Hawks number is still 2.

With me so far?

Because here is one last piece of information that can change things. Detroit plays at Chicago tonight. The Bulls are currently in 8th place with a 32-38 record. Should Detroit win tonight,  Chicago's record would move to (duh) 32-39. Chicago plays Charlotte on April 11th, which means one of those teams would have to finish with 40 losses - which means at best, the 9th place team in the Eastern Conference could do no better than 42-40.

Therefore, if Detroit wins tonight, the Hawks' magic number finally, officially, becomes one, which means a win over San Antonio on Wednesday clinches a playoff berth.

If Chicago wins tonight, the Hawks could still clinch on Wednesday if they beat the Spurs and the Bobcats lose at Washington, but I suppose the overall lesson here is that we are just a few days away from reserving a spot in the postseason no matter what.

So yeah, overall takeaway? The magic number is 2, and let's go Pistons!