Takin' care of business - that's what the Hawks have been doing the last couple weeks. Getting home wins over the Clips, Magic, Bucks, Bulls, and Knicks, sprinkled in with road wins at New York and Washington, has Atlanta sitting 2.5 games up in the chase for the last playoff spot with only 9 games left on the calendar. Over the past 9 games, the Hawks have won every game they were "supposed" to - all their home games, with the only losses coming at New Jersey and at Chicago (yes the Hawks could have won those games, but being that they were on the road against teams with talent, I wouldn't say we were supposed to).

Tonight's game at Memphis is another game I'd say we are "supposed" to win. The Grizzlies are in the league's basement, and we beat them with relative ease at Philips Arena back in December. Will we win? It's hard to say. We've had our share of troubles on the road this season, and the Grizzlies can still play despite their record; they beat the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday.

Grizzlies blog 3 Shades of Blue has a breakdown of tonight's match-up and gives the Hawks the advantage at 4 of the 5 positions on the court.

I look at this game as a temperature check for this team. A win would be the team's fourth in a row, something they've only achieved once this season, amd one that would be a terrific boost for the team's confidence with the last tough stretch of the season on deck. Any chance the Hawks have to move up and avoid the Celtics in the first round will depend greatly on how they perform this week, as the Raptors and Sixers (twice) are next on the menu. A win tonight puts Atlanta within improbable but not completely unrealistic distance of making that kind of late charge. While a loss doesn't necessarily end those hopes (mathematically speaking), it won't bode well for them either - the team just won't be truly dangerous until they can show a capability to win games on the road.

Yes the Hawks are playing the second night of a back-to-back, but I think they can win this game. The Grizz are the kind of team you can beat during a back-to-back; i.e., they don't play much defense.

Look for the game to be up tempo, which plays to the strength of both teams, but look for Atlanta to use that more to its advantage and outscore Memphis for a critical road win.

Game time is 8:00 ET, and your channel is FSN.

Miami at Indiana
Desired Outcome: A Miami win! Chaos ensues! Dogs and cats living together!
Probable Outcome: Ummm...not gonna happen. Indiana may get Jermaine O'Neal back for tonight's game, but if that doesn't happen, they'll probably only win by 20 instead of 25.

Everyone deserves some credit for the Hawks last few wins (the last three of which earned the office free donuts this morning), but in particular I want to give some props to Marvin Williams. Marv had a pretty rough stretch during February and March, seeing his numbers drop across the board. You could tell it was affecting him, causing him to press and do things outside of his comfort zone.

In the last few games though, I think Marvin has started to return to form, partially by sticking to the things he does best (hitting mid-range jumpers) and partially by ramping up his contributions elsewhere. It's no mistake that two of his seven double-doubles have come in the last two games - he's clearly made it a priority for himself to become more active on the glass. Add it all up, and you have a player who is back to playing the kind of basketball he was early in the season, helping the team to a 15-12 start.

If he can keep this up, it greatly increases not only the team's chances of making the playoffs but also their abilities to do some damage once they get there.

And now for something completely different, your links from over the weekend:

The Hawks did what they needed to do on Wednesday, squashing the Bucks at home to preserve their slim margin over the Nets. Tonight they find themselves with another opportunity to make some real headway in the East, as they can knock the Bulls 4 games off the pace and, depending on what happens in Indiana between the Pacers and Nets, find themselves in with either a 1.5 game lead over New Jersey (with an Indy win), or staring at pretty much a two-team race to the finish (as a Pacers loss will knock them, like Chicago, too far back at 3.5 out with only 10 games to play).

This Bulls team has given the Hawks fits in Chicago, but their previous trip to Philips Arena resulted in one of the most dominant wins by Atlanta this season. What to expect tonight?

First things first, Mike Bibby is playing, which is a huge sigh of relief for Atlanta fans after he aggravated his thumb injury late in Wednesday's game. Dude is a gamer, and he knows what's at stake. I imagine Mike will get plenty of rest for his body once the season ends, but for now, it's going to take a lot more than a sore thumb to keep him off the court.

In talking to Hawks coach David Fizdale in our Breaking Down The Bulls segment today, he talked about the importance of keeping the Bulls off the offensive glass. Drew Gooden, who always seems to play well against the Hawks, was a beast on the boards in Chicago's win on Tuesday; keeping him in check will be one of the top priorities for the Hawks tonight.

The guys on the team know what's at stake. Josh Smith talked about it today after shootaround - it's hard not to pay attention to what the other teams are doing, but as long as the team controls their own destiny, they just have to focus on getting done what they need to get done.

Hopefully tonight they'll do just that.

Come down to Philips to check out all the action for yourself.

See you there!

Onto the links:

No word yet on his availability for Friday's game against Chicago, but if I hear anything at practice I'll pass it along. The Nets beat the Pacers to keep the pressure on the Hawks for the 8th spot, but the Pacers loss (and Chicago's loss) moves each of those teams a game further back.

Onto your links:

Atlanta is 1-2 against tonight's opponent, dropping both contests on the road and winning at home back in November. I anticipate that the Hawks will even up the series tonight - after all, the Bucks just lost two games to the Heat in the past seven days.

However, those losses also make me a little nervous. Even when your team is playing out the string like Milwaukee is, players still have pride. Losing a game to Miami at this point (without Wade) is tough to swallow, and the flack they are getting for it stings. So don't be surprised to see them come out tonight with something to prove.

Atlanta's lead is down to .5 games over New Jersey, but the team's fate is still very much in their own hands. Getting a win tonight will help make sure it stays that way.

Games To Watch

Chicago at Philadelphia
Desired Outcome: At first I want to say a Philly loss would be nice, but now that the Hawks are 5.5 behind them in the standings I think the Sixers are probably too far gone. So, a Chicago loss probably helps the most.
Probable Outcome: The Sixers have been on fire of late, and I don't see them slowing down against the Bulls.

Indiana at New Jersey
Desired Outcome: Either way someone is getting a helpful loss, but since the Nets have the tiebreaker we'll root for the Pacers.
Probable Outcome: Who knows? Neither of these teams are the bastion of consistency, but with the game being played in New Jersey, the odds are in the Nets' favor.

Onto the links:

• Hawks.com: Hawks-Bucks Preview

• AJC - BULLS 103, HAWKS 94: Chicago won't take dive

• AJC – Hawks Report

• Stats LLC – Hawks-Bucks preview

• NBA.com – Around the Association; Al Horford mentioned

• ESPN.com – Daily Dime; Al Horford mentioned

• NBA.com – Assist of the Night: Mike Bibby (video clip)

• ESPN.com – Hawks-Bulls video highlights

• About.com - NBA Teams - Weekly Southeast Division Report - 3.25.08; Hawks mentioned

• Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - Goals getting smaller; Hawks-Bucks mentioned (scroll)

• Houston Chronicle - This vote's already cast for Scola; Al Horford mentioned (scroll)

• SI.com – NBA Power Rankings; Hawks mentioned

• Chicago Tribune - Bulls beat Hawks, stay alive in playoff hunt

• Washington Post - Agents Still Wooing Top Prep Stars; Williams, Childress mentioned (scroll)

If Atlanta can play as well as they have over the last five games, I think they can win tonight. But they are going to have to limit mistakes and come out sharp.

Tune into SportSouth at 8:30 to follow along.

The only other game of note tonight is New Orleans at Indiana - let's hope the Hornets can get the job done on the road...

Onto the links:

Four games on the schedule this week, including two with Chicago (on the road on Tuesday, at home on Friday). As Sekou Smith and I discussed today in the weekly podcast, the Bulls have always been a good measuring stick for this team. In the past they have owned us, but we broke through against them earlier this season in a 105-84 win at Philips. How Atlanta performs in the home-and-home this week will tell us alot about where things are headed over the last few weeks of the season.

A couple games on the slate tonight to pay attention to:

Philadelphia at Boston
Desired Outcome: Boston cruises.
Probable Outcome: Boston is on fire and returning home after a road-trip through the Southwest. The Celtics have the Atlantic Division sewn up, but can sweep the Sixers for the first time in 12 years with a win tonight. I say, pull out the brooms.

New Jersey at New York
Desired Outcome: The Knicks protect their home turf against their rivals from across the Hudson.
Probable Outcome: Hard to say. The Knicks have lost 6 straight at home, while the Nets have lost 9 straight on the road. Obviously, one of those has to give. I'll give this one to New Jersey since a) they need it more, and b) there is no way the Knicks should sweep the season series against anyone (they lead 3-0 going into tonight's contest).