Make no mistake - today's win over the Lakers was as important as any the Hawks have had the entire season to this point.

With two straight stinging losses at home at the hands of the Spurs and Celtics (and short-handed Spurs and Celtics at that), and in the midst of a daunting stretch that will see the team go on the road to Philly and Boston before hosting the Magic, the Hawks needed something positive to happen. They needed to make something positive happen, especially with Miami and Philly still capable of making a run at them for the 4 spot. Everyone is confident the team will indeed hold on to that seed and the home-court advantage that comes with it, but if the lead starts shrinking...well, let's not even worry about it.

The Hawks came up with a gem today in front of the largest regular season crowd in Philips Arena history, as 20,148 came to see the home team battle the Best of the West. That they won is sweet in and of itself, that they won with all of the Kobe lovers in the building trying in vain to give the visitors an edge is all the better.

I know the Hawks bench players have answered their critics already this season and don't need validation anymore, but their handprint was all over this victory and they deserve recognition (I lump Mo Evans in here today, even though he's been starting in Marvin Williams' absence). Zaza, Mo, and Flip were huge today - I wrote this in Everything You Need To Know, but you gotta like any Hawks win where Joe, Josh, and Al combine to shoot 8-35, let alone a win over the most dynamic offensive team in the league.

And then there's that - the Lakers are an offensive juggernaut. They average 107.9 ppg (3rd best in the league behind Phoenix and Golden State), and they don't get there by jacking a bunch of shots and not playing any defense. They are the second most efficient offensive team in the league. Can you guess how many times the Lakers have scored less than 90 points this season before today? Twice. Once in an 89-87 loss to Miami, and once in a 90-79 loss to Denver - I'd say there's a pattern there, but I'm not sure you can call something that happens 3 times in 73 games a pattern). Holding the Lakers to a season-low 76 points is an achievement, and a reminder that when this Hawks team really D's it up, there is no opponent in the league they can't beat.

Congrats to the guys on a win that hopefully will springboard the team towards that final push they need to secure the home court.

If you want to reserve your ticket today before they are available everywhere, time is running out!

Check out the Hawks Playoff Pre-Sale and get your seats early!

And down the stretch they come! The Hawks terrific performance over the last segment has put the team in great shape as they play out the final 10-game segment of the season. Let's take a look at the last run of games before the postseason arrives:

Looking Back: The Homestand, Part II
Home games: Detroit, New Orleans, Utah, Indiana, Portland, Sacramento, Dallas, Minnesota, San Antonio
Road games: Cleveland

What happened: Another outstanding stretch of basketball for the Hawks, as they went 7-0 on the big homestand and knocked off several big-time opponents, regaining their swagger from earlier in the season in the process. Several teams came to Philips Arena sporting long winning streaks, and the Hawks knocked them off one-by-one like they were shooting targets at the county fair. The hot stretch catapulted the team to clinching a playoff spot, and helped them build a 4-game lead on Miami and Philadelphia for the 4th seed with 10 games to go. Basically, job well done.

Injury report: It was not a good stretch for the Hawks' backs. Marvin Williams hurt his against Detroit and could be lost for the season, while Acie Law developed back spasms and has missed the last 3 games. Mike Bibby caught a Matt Bonner elbow in the Spurs game and needed stitches, but he came back during the game and is good to go.

In Summary: Probably the most impressive stretch of play for the team all season, as they took the defensive effort we saw at the beginning of the season and added in some offensive fireworks. Joe regained his offensive form to post 4 straight 30+ nights, Flip Murray took his game up to a whole new level, and Al Horford and Josh Smith became double-double machines. The Hawks look to be peaking at the right time. I predicted 6-4, and the Hawks blew right past that and went 8-2.

Looking Ahead: The Race For 4th
Home games: Boston, LA Lakers, Orlando, Indiana, Miami
Road games: Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Milwaukee, Memphis

Expectations going in: The Hawks are in the playoffs (yay!). But there is still work to be done if the Hawks want to host a playoff series. They are in good shape with a 4-game lead on Miami and Philadelphia, but the schedule stiffens the next week or so - this won't be a cakewalk by any means. Ideally, if the Hawks can snag a few victories at the start, they might be able to clinch the 4 seed and allow themselves to rest some guys as the season draws to a close. But with the gauntlet they are facing, that's going to be a tall task.

Predicted Record: We all know what the Hawks are capable of at home. The road has been their cross to bear all season, and with 5 games away from Philips Arena, how they do there will largely determine their final playoff seeding. But before they take to the road, they first must face off against the reigning NBA finalists in the Celtics and Lakers. The Hawks and Celtics have played two incredibly close games this year, with Boston winning both by a combined 4 points. That ends tonight. The Hawks are going to win, you heard it here first (well, you read it here first anyway). The Lakers are firing on all cylinders right now, and as much as I think we can beat them, I'm going to say Kobe and co. get the best of us this time around. Philly will be tough, but I actually think the Hawks will pull the surprise and take one from them, essentially clinching the 4-seed in the process. The Celtics are pretty tough at home, so I think they'll pay us back for tonight, but I think we'll respond by beating the Magic and evening that season series. Give us a split against Toronto and Milwaukee (win at TOR, loss at MIL), before we finish the regular season on a high note with 3 straight wins over Indy, Miami, and Memphis.

The Hawks finish 7-3, and end up just shy of 50 wins for the season at 49-33.

What are your predictions?

Share your thoughts and excitement in the comments, and congrats to Mike Woodson and his team for accomplishing their first goal of the season!

I have Magic Numbers swimming in my head. First it was 3, then it was 2, then after we beat the Wolves it was down to 1, except that it really was back to 2 unless Detroit won last night, which they didn't, and yet somehow today it's back to 1 (sorta). Right? HA!

Here is the scenario for clinching a playoff spot tonight, and this is straight from the NBA.

The Hawks will clinch a berth if EITHER of these two things happen.

1 - Hawks win (easy enough)
2 - New Jersey loss + Milwaukee loss + Charlotte loss (significantly less likely)

In other words, if the Hawks win tonight, they are in. But if they lose, and all 3 of the other teams don't, then the official celebration will still be on hold.

I'll be honest - this whole situation was driving me a little crazy, that is until I realized something relatively important, and I've felt better ever since. And that is that all of this is pretty trivial, because no matter what, the Hawks are GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS, and they are going to make it there with a few weeks to spare. Regardless of when we can officially tout our official playoff-clinchitude (new word?), we know that we won't have to be scoreboard watching down to the last day, and though we've still got goals to accomplish in this regular season (namely home-court advantage), the first hurdle has pretty much already been cleared.

Considering where we've come from, that is a huge relief.

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!

For you eagle-eyed observers of Hawks.com, you may have noticed that in the last few minutes the Hawks magic number graphic on the home page shrunk from 3 to 2.

"How can that be?" you might be asking, since you know, the Hawks haven't technically played anyone yet today.

Allow me to explain.

The Hawks record currently sits at 41-29. Sitting in 9th place in the Eastern Conference is our Southeast Division rival the Charlotte Bobcats, with a record of 31-39. In theory, our magic number to clinch a spot over them should be 3 (as in, 3 wins gets us to 44, which they can't match, or 3 losses gets them to a best-case of 40 wins, which we've already bested). However, since we won the season series against Charlotte 3-1, they actually have to do better than that. The Bobcats would have to beat the Hawks' record outright to make the playoffs ahead of them, which means that if both teams finish, say, 42-40, Atlanta wins via the tiebreak. Therefore, any combination of 2 (Hawks wins and Bobcats losses) clinches a berth over Charlotte.

The Nets are the only team fighting for a playoff spot that owns a tie-break over the Hawks, but with 40 losses already, the Hawks need only 2 (Hawks wins or Nets losses) to sew that up as well.

So, whereas we woke up this morning thinking the Hawks magic number is 3, after closer inspection it turns out it's merely 2.

Which means if we win tonight over Minnesota, it moves down to 1, which is a virtual tie. Sweet!

Any questions?

UPDATE: All of which is to say, it's time to start thinking about playoff tickets - here's a link to the pre-sale, going on now - get them while they're hot!

Hawks.com contributor "Hometeam" Brandon Leak has some thought on what the team needs to focus on down the home stretch to lock it all down.

Take it away, Hometeam...

With the playoffs around the corner, it’s important to focus on things that work and remove the things that don’t work. If the Hawks focus on and remove the right things, we’ll see them in the second round of the playoffs!

THE BENCH:
Flip Murray is clearly the go-to guy, and he will make a difference in the post season. Zaza Pachulia will have to be more aggressive with put backs and finish up strong when given scoring opportunities. Simply put -- be effective and ready to play when called upon. If Woody gives you a shot, make the most of it – and, give the starters a well deserved rest.

FREE-THROWS:
They have to be made period! If you want to give games away down the stretch or in the post season, the best thing to do is to miss free-throws! For the life of me, I have no idea how the Hawks have become the second-worst shooting team from the charity stripe when we were a top-ten shooting team last season. The reason doesn’t matter; tighten up fellas, shoot them after practice, and win. After all, they are FREE!

MIKE BIBBY
Avenge what happened last year – the missed shots, the missed opportunity and the early departure from the playoffs. With Flip, Joe and Mike on the court late in the 4th quarter, open shots will be abundant – after all, you can’t double all three of them. Bibby has to come through this post season - making shots on the road will make the difference.

ENERGY ON THE ROAD
Wanna forget? Start with last year’s Game Seven in Boston, which was a blowout because of poor shooting in the first half. The Hawks have a choice – miss shots and take themselves out of games, or use their firepower and enhanced defense to give them a shot on the road. But, you can’t win anywhere if you’re down 17, 20 or 30 points early in the game!

These are but a few things that will make the difference. The Hawks are a young team with a real shot at making it to the post season AND moving to at least the second round!

And there it is!

I am officially not worried about the Pistons any longer. They don't factor into the Hawks magic number, and at 7 games back in the standings, they are out of the running for the 4 spot as well. Philly is close to being in that territory as well, 5.5 behind, but we'll still track them for now given their proximity to the Heat (they are only 1.5 behind Miami for the 5 spot).

So many teams are bunched in the race for 8th in the Eastern Conference that it's hard to keep track of how they affect the Hawks' playoff countdown, but best I can figure it, Charlotte is the only team with 38 losses, so once they lose another game, that will trim Atlanta's number to 3. That said, here are some games to watch out for this weekend:

Friday

Miami at New Jersey
What we'd like to see: The Nets are still in the running for the 8th spot, but are without Devin Harris. Miami was without D-Wade against Boston on Wednesday, but I imagine he'll be back tonight. Let's hope New Jersey protects the home court.

Philadelphia at Golden State
What we'd like to see: A Warriors win. Golden State is on the second night of a back-to-back, and they aren't that good to begin with. I see the Sixers getting a road win more than likely.

Charlotte at Toronto
What we'd like to see: The Raptors aren't very good at home this year. The Bobcats aren't great on the road. That makes this a toss-up in my mind. Still, go Raptors.

Saturday

Charlotte at Indiana
What we'd like to see: If the Bobcats happen to win Friday night in Toronto, then perhaps Indiana will do the dirty work on Saturday.

Enjoy the weekend, and let's see if the Hawks can't become just the second team to knock off the Cavs in their own building tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 pm.

Just to take another gander at how bizarre the Hawks' home schedule is this season, I did a little research this afternoon. This is the Hawks 41st season in Atlanta. In the 40 prior seasons, the Hawks have only had 3 homestands of 7 games or longer:

1975-76: 7 games - 3-4 record
1978-79: 8 games - 8-0 record*
2005-06: 7 games - 2-5 record**

That's 3 in 40 years. This year, as you may know, we've had not only December's 8-game homestand (where the Hawks went 7-1), but also a 7-game home stretch that ends tonight with a game against the Dallas Mavericks. If my math is correct, that means 40% of the 7+ game homestands in franchise history have happened this year. Bizarre.

* I was hoping this might be the first time the Hawks had ever had a chance to go undefeated during a homestand of this length, but that honor belongs to the 1978-79 squad. That team must have been pretty similar to this one - they finished the season 34-7 at home but only 12-29 on the road, finishing at 46-36.

** Somehow I forgot about this. We've been saying all season we'd never seen an 8-game homestand let alone a 7-game - turns out it happened just two years ago. Oops.

As we discussed today in the Gameday Preview, one of the main stories of this season has been the Hawks' ability to take advantage of these stretches at home. They've beaten good teams, they've beaten bad teams. They've won close games, they've won blowouts. They've won defensive struggles in the 80s, and they've won shootouts in the 120s. And if they can finish the task tonight against the Mavs, they will put themselves in terrific position to use that home-court advantage to their, umm, advantage, come playoff time. A win tonight whittles the team's magic number to 4 for a playoff spot, and would give Atlanta a 4-game lead over Miami with only 14 games remaining.

It would also give the squad it's first 7-game winning streak of any kind since 1998-99.

If you can tear yourself away from March Madness, I highly recommend coming down to Philips Arena tonight to root on the home team as they try to finish this one off in style.

Game time is 7:00 ET, and it is also being shown in HD on FS South.

Miami at Boston
What we'd like to see: Boston is struggling a bit, but word on the street is KG is pretty close to a return. Bully for them. One thing to take note of as the Heat continue their playoff push - will Dwyane Wade have enough left in the tank when the playoffs begin? I'm sure the answer to that question is yes, but they are riding him pretty hard these days. The Heat got a win over the Celtics in Miami last week - I don't see them repeating that feat tonight in Beantown.

Detroit at Houston
What we'd like to see: Ah, the wonderful Texas trip - such fond memories I have of our time there back in December (not!). Looks like Detroit is having about as much fun as we did, losing last night in Dallas before catching the Rockets on the second night of a back-to-back tonight. The way Houston is playing right now, I think the odds favor the home team.

Philadelphia at Phoenix
What we'd like to see: The Sixers got a surprising last-second win against the Lakers last night in LA, and are now streaking a bit having won 4 straight and only 1.5 games behind the Heat for 5th place. I don't want any of the teams behind us to start believing in themselves, so let's root for the Suns to drop another 140+ outing and pick up the win.

I'll admit it. I'm nervous about tonight's game. With the league's worst team coming to town and a big game coming up on Thursday against the Mavericks, I'm a little worried that we are in danger of overlooking tonight's opponent, the Sacramento Kings.

For the most part, the Hawks haven't really given much reason to worry this year. With the exception of the Clippers, they haven't lost to a bad team at home*.

*I don't even really include the Clippers, because they were healthy in that game. I know they are the Clippers and all, but if they'd been healthy all season they should have at least been in the mix for the last playoff spot in the West. The Nets beat us too, but they are just a bad match-up for us.

The Hawks have been busting streaks left and right of late, but it would be a bad thing to add to that list tonight.

Sacramento comes to town at 0-26 against the Eastern Conference. No team has ever lost every single game to the opposing conference, and with only 4 games left to avoid that mark, I think the Kings will be playing a bit desperate.

That shouldn't matter due to the difference in talent on the floor for both teams tonight, but if the Hawks don't come with the effort it could spell trouble.

In the meantime, there are a couple games on the NBA slate tonight that bear keeping an eye on. At this point, I think you have to say the Hawks are pretty much locked into the 4-5 match-up for the playoffs. So really, the outcomes you root for will depend on who you'd like to see Atlanta face off against in the first round.

Do you prefer the one-trick pony Heat (though Wade is quite a trick)? Do you prefer the Pistons, who the Hawks beat 3-0 in the season series? Or do you like the Sixers, who lack the kind of explosive point guard that has been the achilles heel for Atlanta all year long? Just some things to keep in mind as we hit the home stretch.

Here are tonight's match-ups:

Pistons at Mavericks
What we'd like to see: For the sake of securing the 4 spot, likely though it is over the Pistons, we should probably continue to root for them to lose until it's guaranteed. Ideally, this game will go several OTs to tire the Mavs out for Thursday's game at Philips Arena.

Sixers at Lakers
What we'd like to see: Is what we'll probably see - the Lakers continuing to run roughshod through the NBA, and the Sixers falling another half-game back of the Hawks.

I'm not sure I can watch that clip enough times.

With 15 games to play, I think the Hawks are pretty safely locked into the 4-5 match-up. Even if Miami were to catch them, Philly and Detroit are probably too far back at this point (4.5 and 5 games, respectively) to make up that much ground.

Since you won't need to watch any b'ball tonight, feel free to check out the BasketBlog podcast from today, featuring AOL Fanhouse and Sactown Royalty auteur Tom Ziller.

More tomorrow as the Hawks go for 6 against the Sacramento Kings.

To get a win today, I think the Hawks need to just keep doin' what they're doin' of late - playing the kind of defense that got them out to a 6-0 start back in November.

This recent 4-0 stretch reminds me a lot of November - winning games against quality opponents thanks to suffocating defense at one end leading to easy buckets at the other one. If the Hawks can continue to ratchet it up on D, I think there is absolutely a chance they can not only beat the Blazers today but take a crack at an undefeated homestand.

Henry Abbott mentioned in his preview that he considers the Blazers to be sort of the "Hawks of the West" with their youth and athleticism. Some may scoff at that, given Portland's first place standing in the NBA's Northwest Division, but if you look at their records, it's not much of a stretch. They are 28-6 at home and 13-18 on the road - sound familiar?

Catch the action live on SportSouth at 1:00 ET, and let's see the Hawks get to 5 in a row and get that Blazers' monkey off our backs.

Here are some of the things going on to be aware of:

Friday, March 13, 2009 

The ACC Men's Basketball Tournament at the Dome- The first session will be from 12:00pm until 2:00pm and the second session will be from 7:00pm until 9:00pm.  There will be very heavy traffic in the area during the Hawks vs Indiana game at 7:30pm.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The AJC Auto Show at the Georgia World Congress Center - The show starts at 10am and ends at 10pm. The ACC Men's Basketball Tournament at the Dome- The first game will be and 1:30pm and the next at 3:30pm.   There will be very heavy traffic in the area during the FACE 2 FACE concert starting at 8:00pm.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The AJC Auto Show at the Georgia World Congress Center - The show starts at 10am and ends at 8pm. The ACC Men's Basketball Tournament at the Dome- The game will start at 1:00pm.  There will be very heavy traffic in the area during the Hawks vs Portland game at 1:00pm.

In the meantime, here is who Josh Smith likes to win it all:

Marvin has elected not to have surgery, and instead will try to rehabilitate his back to see if that does the trick instead.

Though there is no timeline for his return at this point, I tend to think that the fact that he isn't having surgery is a bit of a silver lining. While it's entirely possible he may end up missing significant time, even the rest of the season, it's also entirely possible he could be back at some point to help the team in the playoff push and beyond.

Basically, the way I read it is, if he needed surgery that was a wrap, but the fact that he doesn't require it leaves some hope that it's not as bad as some had feared.

I realize that's not a ton of new information, but with injuries it's always difficult to give a strict timeline, and even more so when it's not a broken leg or torn ACL.

So, let's all just wish Marvin well (he begins his therapy today), and hope we see him in a Hawks uniform some time in the near future.

The wins over the Pistons and Hornets were nice, don't get me wrong. But beating the Jazz always makes me happy, even more so when it snaps their 12-game winning streak.

Over the years, Utah has been a team that has tormented Atlanta repeatedly. From winning 15 straight in Utah to the 21-point comeback at Philips Arena two years ago, they have managed to get the best of the Hawks on a pretty consistent basis.

Tonight's win, coupled with last year's 116-111 home victory, shows that the tide is turning. Yes, Utah was playing the second night of a back-to-back, but that didn't stop them from taking a lead into the 4th quarter. The Hawks won this game with defense and determination, out-willing the Jazz down the stretch and finishing the contest on a 13-4 run.

With Marvin Williams' status still unclear, it's good to see his teammates stepping up to keep the team's chances of hosting a playoff series in good shape. Josh Smith has been particularly impressive, tallying three straight double-doubles and igniting the crowds with several timely blocks and highlight-reel dunks.

There are still 18 games to play in this 2008-09 regular season, and nothing has been won yet. But if the Hawks can continue to protect their turf like they have in beating three straight playoff teams (free breakfast!) in the last five days, it may not matter what the opposition does behind them.

As we discussed in today's gameday preview, there is an interesting quirk in the recent match-ups for the Hawks - they've been playing some hot teams of late. The Bobcats had won 4 straight before beating the Hawks on Friday night in Charlotte (they would run that to 6 before losing to the Spurs last night). Atlanta then snapped Detroit's 4-game winning streak on Saturday, and disposed of New Orleans 7-game run on Monday.

Tonight it gets a little tougher - the Jazz come to town having won 12 in a row. That in and of itself isn't so scary; in addition the Detroit and New Orleans the Hawks also ended an 11-game streak by Cleveland back in December (and were a FT away from breaking up a 14-game run by the Celtics). What is worrisome is the match-up problems the Jazz create for the Hawks. For whatever reason, they just seem to always be a tough out for Atlanta, as we saw in Utah's 108-89 home win a few weeks ago.

And though the Hawks will be shorthanded again without Marvin Williams (he is still undergoing some tests to determine the extent of his back injury), there is reason to think we'll get a W this evening. First of all, the Jazz are playing the second night of a back-to-back, so hopefully their legs will be a little worn from last night's win in Indiana. Secondly, though the Hawks haven't won in Utah in a decade and a half, they have had success at Philips, including last year's 116-111 win. Two years ago they held a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Jazz rallied, and while they lost the game they clearly showed they can beat this team at home.

Toss in the fact that the Jazz are only 13-17 on the road, and I think you have the recipe for a potentially huge home win over a bona fide title contender.

In other news, here are some other match-ups to watch tonight.

Raptors at Sixers
What we'd like to see: A Toronto win would help. Given the Raptors 11-23 road record and current 5-game losing streak though, I don't know how likely that is against the homestanding Sixers.

Celtics at Heat
What we'd like to see: The Celtics are hurting and will be without regulars Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Glen Davis tonight in Miami. They are fighting for the East's top seed though, so hopefully they'll be able to overcome the shortage of healthy bodies and gut out a win over the Heat.

Knicks at Pistons
What we'd like to see: A clash of styles tonight in Detroit - hopefully the Knicks will be able to get the Pistons to play at their pace and outscore them the same way they did to Atlanta last week at the Garden.

Feel free to add your thoughts or predictions in the comments.

Joe Johnson has tossed his hat in the ring with this impressive shot before last Wednesday's game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Nicely done JJ. Challenge met, LeBron - what else you got?

That's not the only video Joe's in these days, by the way. Check him out in this Nike spot for the Jumpman campaign, it's pretty sweet:

Today is March 9th. There are a shade under 6 weeks left to play in the NBA season, and as we saw with the Pistons game on Saturday, the intensity is ratcheting up all around the league as teams begin their final playoff pushes.

Everyone has to raise their game a little bit - and so we will try to do the same. With the launch of Hawks.com/playoffs, we hope to provide you with all you could ever want to know about the team's march to its second straight berth in the postseason, and in particular their quest to nail down the 4th seed and homecourt advantage in the first round.

Last year, with the team battling to make the playoffs, we tried to keep track of what the competition was up to as well. This time around, with a playoff berth looking nearly secure, we will narrow our focus to the previously mentioned battle for 4th.

As of right now, there really are only 3 teams that appear capable of making a run at knocking the Hawks from their perch: Miami, Detroit, and Philadelphia. So for the foreseeable future, those are the squads we'll focus on. From now until the end of the season, we will try to preview every night any games involving those teams and tell you who to root for (presumably that will be somewhat obvious, but hey, you never know) and what to expect.

With that said, here are the games to pay attention to tonight:

Magic at Pistons
Desired Outcome: The Magic are too far in front of us to harbor any notions of catching them for the Southeast crown, so we are safe to root for them. Go Magic.
Predicted Outcome: Detroit shocked Orlando a week ago by snapping an 8-game losing streak on the Magic's home court. The Magic have won 4 straight since then, and I think they'll make it 5 and gain their revenge in the process tonight at the Palace.

Bulls at Heat
Desired Outcome: The Bulls are in the thick of the playoff chase, but at 6 games back of the Hawks with only 19 to play, I don't see any harm in rooting them onto victory.
Predicted Outcome: Miami is the 5th-best home team in the East; Chicago is the 4th-worst road team. D-Wade probably gets it done tonight.

Feel free to add your thoughts or predictions in the comments.

Looking Back: If We Survive This, We're Golden
Home games: Miami, Cleveland
Road games: LA Lakers, Sacramento, Portland, Utah, Denver, Washington, New York, Charlotte

What happened: A rough stretch for the Hawks. The trip out West was brutal as always, and the last-second loss to the Cavs really seemed to take the wind out of the team's sails. The win over the Heat was the biggest bright spot, as it clinched at least a tie in the season series (which could come into play down the stretch - the Heat sit just .5 games behind the Hawks as of today).

Injury report: Mike Bibby missed all of one game with the flu, but he wasn't the only one affected. Several teammates caught the bug as well, but no one else was forced to miss any time.

In Summary: The Hawks went 3-7, getting wins at Sacramento and Washington as well as the home game against the Heat. Going 1-4 out West hurt but was somewhat unsurprising given the competition faced, but going 2-3 over the second part of the period took away much of the team's breathing room for the 4th spot. They'll have to make up for it going forward.

Looking Ahead: The Homestand, Part II
Home games: Detroit, New Orleans, Utah, Indiana, Portland, Sacramento, Dallas, Minnesota, San Antonio
Road games: Cleveland

Expectations going in: This is the second time this season we've seen the Hawks play a ridiculous stretch of home games in a row, and this one couldn't have come at a better time. 9 of the next 10 games will be played within the friendly confines of Philips Arena, where the Hawks are 20-7 on the season. Make no mistake though, this will be no cakewalk. 7 of the 10 teams are playoff-bound squads, almost all of them with legitimate title aspirations. The key will be getting off to a good start against the Pistons, which not only will snap a two-game losing streak but could also set the tone for the homestand in the same way the win over Cleveland kicked off a 7-1 homestand back in December.

Predicted Record: The Hawks are a .500 team since starting the season 6-0, but win roughly 75% of the time at home. Even with the stiff competition coming to town  and the team's recent slump, I still expect them to win more than they lose. Losses against any of Indiana, Sacramento, or Minnesota would be very hurtful to the team's bid for homecourt advantage. I say they get all 3, and add Detroit (earning a season-sweep), New Orleans (ditto), and Dallas as well. At Cleveland is probably too much to ask, and tough, physical teams like Utah and San Antonio always seem to give the Hawks fits. I'd love to get one against Portland, but they seem to have our number lately.

Call it 6-4, with the hope that the team catches fire at home like they did in December.

What are your predictions?

After a 98-91 loss Friday night in Charlotte, the Hawks lead for the 4-spot in the East is down to just a half game over the Miami Heat.

The Hawks still control their fate - they own the tie-break over both the Heat and Pistons, and have 14 of their last 20 at Philips Arena, where they are 20-7 on the season.

Still, they are going to have to dig deep to figure out what has been ailing them since the All-Star break. Different guys have played well since then, but seemingly not all at the same time.

Still, if you can't make it down to the Highlight Factory for a game or two, this is reassuring news:

FOX SPORTS SOUTH AND SPORTSOUTH TO TELEVISE

TEN OF NEXT TWELVE HAWKS GAMES IN HD

First Up:  Hawks vs. Pistons on Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. ET

Ten of the next 12 Atlanta Hawks’ games scheduled to be televised on FOX Sports South and SportSouth will be televised in high definition, starting with the Hawks’ home game against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, March 7 on SportSouth. 

Here is the full list of HD games:

Saturday, March 7 – vs. Detroit Pistons – 7 p.m. ET – SPSO  

Monday, March 9 – vs. New Orleans Hornets – 7 p.m. ET – FSSO

Friday, March 13 – vs. Indiana Pacers – 7:30 p.m. ET – SPSO

Tuesday, March 17 – vs. Sacramento Kings – 7 p.m. ET – FSSO

Thursday, March 19 – vs. Dallas Mavericks – 7 p.m. – FSSO

Saturday, March 21 – @ Cleveland Cavaliers – 1 p.m. – SPSO

Monday, March 23 – vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – 7 p.m. – FSSO

Wednesday, March 25 – vs. San Antonio Spurs – 7 p.m. – FSSO

Friday, March 27 – vs. Boston Celtics – 7:30 p.m. – FSSO

Sunday, March 29 – vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 3:30 p.m. – SPSO

That's a lot of HD. Sweet.

I apologize for the light posting here of late, but I've been hard at work for you, I promise. The bulk of my hours the last few days have been in service of getting the brand new A-Town Dancers website launched, and I'm happy to say, it's now live!

Check it out - there are a ton of new photos of the girls, especially from their beach photo shoot, and new desktop wallpaper(s?) as well. Let us know what you think!

In other news, tonight the Hawks visit the world's most famous arena when they take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. I don't know how you are feeling about it, but I have to say I'm of the opinion that the team is back on an upswing. Though the West Coast trip didn't quite go as planned, it seems to me the team started to rediscover it's mojo in the loss at Denver. Even though they lost, they were sharing the ball and looked much crisper offensively, and that has maintained through wins over Miami and Washington and in the excruciating loss to Cleveland.

Offensive performance shouldn't be too much of an issue tonight as the Knicks care very little for defense. They are going to try to outscore the Hawks, plain and simple. They were able to do so the last time the two teams met in New York, mostly courtesy of Krypt-o-Nate's 20-point 4th quarter.

Atlanta didn't have Al Horford at the time, and I think Big Al's presence in the middle tonight will make a big difference on both sides of the ball.

This is kinda a big game tonight (yes, I realize with only 22 games left, every game is important). The Hawks are on a three-game road trip against a few bad-to-middling Eastern Conference teams. Going 3-0 would be outstanding. Going 2-1 would be successful. 1-2? That'd be a disappointment, especially with the heavy hitters coming to town later this month. The Hawks should be out to win every game, but taking these winnable home games will only serve to give the team a little cushion should they come up short against the Lakers and Spurs of the world.

I expect an offensive battle similar to the 112-104 contest we saw back on Jan. 28, but I say the team continues it's recent trend of sharing the wealth offensively and gets a big win on the road.

Game time is 7:30 ET - tune into SportSouth for all the action.

Man, that one hurt. The Hawks played so well in so many ways tonight. They really deserved to win, and yet the final score showed Cleveland 88, Atlanta 87. I was really impressed with Atlanta tonight. Even as they fell behind for most of the first half, you could tell the energy and intensity were there, they just couldn't catch a break. And when things finally started to go their way, they took advantage. When Marvin Williams hit a 3-pointer to make it 87-82 with 1:42 to play, I thought that would just about do it. But Cleveland showed why they are the top seed in the Eastern Conference, coming back and stealing the victory on the road in a very frustrating fashion.

Even still, I can't help but think Atlanta showed tonight that they won't be an easy out for anyone come playoff time, no matter what round. Hopefully what they will take away from tonight is not that they lost, but that they competed toe-to-toe with the best team in the Eastern Conference (in my opinion, anyway) and nearly came out ahead (and probably should have).

Let's just channel all that aggression and frustration from tonight's loss and take it out on Washington tomorrow night, whaddya say?

Snow can be a fun thing, but it can also be a hassle at times, especially in a Southern city that doesn't see it that often, but rest assured, it won't have any effect on tonight's Hawks-Cavs game.

Everything is set to go as usual, so if you are planning on coming down to catch the action in person (which you absolutely should do), there is no need to change plans.

But in the meantime, grab a few friends, go outside, throw a few snowballs, and have some fun!