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?