Looking Back: Countdown To All-Star Weekend
Home games: Phoenix, New Jersey, LA Clippers, Washington
Road games: Miami, New York, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Charlotte, Detroit

What happened: Perhaps the most puzzling stretch of the season so far. On the one hand, there were some disappointing losses. The Phoenix and Miami losses were immensely frustrating as the team seemed to lose it's way offensively, and defensive lapses cost the team potential wins in Milwaukee and New York and at home against the Clippers. On the other hand, the Hawks got two nice road wins at Minnesota and Charlotte without Joe Johnson, blitzed the Nets (finally) and the Wizards in easy home wins, and finished the stretch with a huge victory over the Pistons in Detroit that earned the team the tie-break advantage for the playoffs. If you judge the 10 on the whole it's easy to feel like the team missed a couple opportunities, but the way they closed after a tough start made it feel overall like a successful trip.

Injury report: The Hawks only played two games over this stretch with their full roster intact (though at less than 100%). Al Horford returned against the T-Wolves after missing 12 games with a knee injury, just in time for Joe Johnson to miss two games with a viral infection. Mike Bibby missed the Clippers game with a sprained foot as well. Needless to say, injuries continue to be a nagging issue for the team.

In Summary: For the second straight segment, I predicted the team to go 7-3, and they ended up at 5-5. It was a yo-yo of a stretch with the frustrating losses followed by some really terrific wins. With the team finally getting healthy at the end, hopefully the Detroit victory will springboard the team into the post-All Star part of the season.

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

Expectations going in: Toughest stretch of the season without question. 8 of the 10 games on the road, including a 5-game swing out West against the Lakers (current 1 seed in the conference), Blazers (4 seed), Nuggets (3 seed), and Jazz (8 seed despite tons of injury issues). The only game that looks like a gimme is the game at Sacramento against the bottom-feeding Kings. After navigating that series of landmines, the Hawks come home to face Dwyane Wade and LeBron James back-to-back at home, then head back on the road for 3 more against the Wizards, Knicks, and Bobcats. Those games are certainly winnable, but after 7 straight battles the Hawks will really need to be at the top of their mental game for that final segment.

Predicted Record: Let's be honest here. The Hawks could play great basketball and still lose many of these games just because of the stiffness of the competition and where the games will be played. I've been predicting 7-3 records for the Hawks over the past few segments of this column, but I don't think I'll venture that far this time around. Quite honestly, this slate of games will be all about survival as far as I'm concerned. If the Hawks go 1-9, that would be devastating. If they go 4-6, I won't be thrilled, but I'll feel like they didn't give away the season. The key will be to win the games they should - at Sacramento, at Washington, and home against Miami. If they get those 3, and pick up at least one of the home game against the Cavs and road game at the Bobcats, I'll feel...well, maybe not satisfied, but I won't feel like the Hawks are collapsing. And of course, if Atlanta somehow manages to go 6-4 or better, well, then I think we can really start to contemplate the things this team can achieve come the postseason.

I'm going to say 5-5 and hope for better.

What are your predictions?