Five games. That is all that stands between the Atlanta Hawks and a postseason appearance that, just two months ago, very few people outside the State Farm Arena locker room saw coming.
Atlanta now controls its own destiny after downing the Magic 130-101 on Wednesday, strengthening its hold on fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks were 27-31 at one point after the All-Star break, but now sit at 44-33 and look like the team that nobody wants to face in the first round of the playoffs. The road back from the margins to genuine playoff contention is one of the more compelling stories in the NBA this spring — and it is happening right here in Atlanta.
Where Things Stand Right Now
The Hawks have a 1.5-game lead on both the 76ers in sixth and the Raptors in seventh with five games remaining in the regular season. As the bracket currently projects, Atlanta would face the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs, which tip off April 18.
While nothing is locked in, the Hawks are overwhelming favorites to get into the top six of the playoff seeding. With one of their five remaining games coming against the tanking Nets on Friday night in Brooklyn, Atlanta sits in a strong position with four games to follow.
Tonight’s game at Barclays Center tips off at 7:30 p.m. EDT. The Hawks own a 3-0 record against Brooklyn this season, and dating back to the 2024-25 campaign, have won five of their last six meetings with the Nets. Onyeka Okongwu has been particularly productive against Brooklyn this season, averaging 16.8 points on 63.2% shooting, 12.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game in his last six appearances against the Nets.
The Numbers Behind the Run
The stretch Atlanta has put together since the All-Star break is historically notable. Since the break, the Hawks own an 18-3 record, including an 11-game winning streak and a 13-game home winning streak — becoming just the second team in NBA history to win 11 straight games by nine or more points, joining the 1949 Washington Capitols.
The five-man lineup of CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu is a defensive problem for opponents. Since the All-Star break, the lineup has posted a defensive rating of 94.2 and a net rating of 31.5. Those are numbers that rank among the most productive five-man units in the league over that stretch.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker has increased his scoring by 11.2 points per game from the 2024-25 season to this season — the third-highest single-season scoring increase over the past 25 seasons, per Elias Sports. That kind of individual leap, quietly unfolding across 77 games, has been one of the central drivers of Atlanta’s resurgence.
How the Team Got Here
This has not been a straightforward season. The Hawks entered 2025-26 with questions about their direction, and those questions intensified through December and into January when the team sat below .500. The defining moment came on January 9, when general manager Onsi Saleh moved franchise cornerstone Trae Young to the Washington Wizards in exchange for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.
The reaction from Atlanta’s fan base was swift and emotional. Young had been the face of the franchise through seven seasons and multiple playoff runs, including the surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. Trading him felt, to many, like dismantling something that had not yet been fully built.
But what has unfolded since that trade has reframed the argument. The Hawks have played .655 ball since the deal and rode a 10-game winning streak, with the early returns described as exceedingly promising. The reasoning behind the move has become clearer with each game. Building a high-level defense around Young, who repeatedly graded out as one of the NBA’s most damaging individual defenders, proved exceedingly difficult. The Hawks finished in the bottom 10 in defensive efficiency five times in Young’s first seven years with the club, and in the bottom five four times.
Lineups anchored by the 6-8 Jalen Johnson, 6-8 Daniels, 6-5 Alexander-Walker, and 6-10 Onyeka Okongwu — without quite as detrimental a weak link to cover — have given Atlanta the length and athleticism to defend at a different level.
The trade deadline brought further reinforcements. The Hawks traded Kristaps Porzingis to Golden State for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, adding a dynamic 23-year-old finisher to a roster that was already starting to find its identity. Kuminga’s arrival gave the Hawks another weapon off the bench as the playoff chase intensified.
The Players Carrying Atlanta
Fifth-year wing Jalen Johnson has improved each season of his career as he developed into the type of player to build a franchise around. Johnson’s rise resulted in his first All-Star appearance this season. He is the anchor of everything Atlanta does on both ends of the floor — a 6-8 forward who creates off the dribble, finishes in traffic, and has shown the playmaking range to run entire offensive sets.
Dyson Daniels has 1.9 steals per game, a top-five mark across the NBA this season, after he led the league with 3.0 steals per game last year. Onyeka Okongwu has flourished in an increased role, eclipsing 30 minutes per game for the first time in his career as an elite rim protector.
McCollum came to Atlanta in the Young trade and remains a true scorer, averaging 18.6 points per game since his arrival. At 34, the veteran is playing with the focus of someone who knows exactly what a deep playoff run would mean for his legacy and his next contract. McCollum has pushed a new cultural standard inside the locker room, telling reporters that if you have something on your mind, you say it.
What the Postseason Could Look Like
The most likely playoff matchups for the Hawks right now are the Cavaliers and the Knicks. New York remains 1.5 games ahead of Cleveland in the standings, but they have a tougher road to end the season.
In the Eastern Conference, seeding is not just positioning — it is survival. For Atlanta, the wrong matchup could turn a promising run into a first-round exit. The Hawks have been one of the NBA’s most compelling case studies in mid-season transformation this year, sitting atop the Southeast Division after surging past Orlando and Miami.
The scenario the franchise wants to avoid is sliding out of the top six and into the Play-In Tournament, where a single-game loss ends the season. With the tiebreaker over the 76ers already clinched, SportsLine currently projects Atlanta as the No. 5 seed — a position that locks in direct playoff entry and sets up a first-round matchup with Cleveland.
Atlanta has not been to the postseason since 2023. The city has been watching this team find itself in real time, and what started as a painful rebuild has become something harder to dismiss. Five games remain. The Hawks hold their position. What happens next is theirs to determine.
