Atlanta’s post-All-Star surge clinched a playoff spot, making NBA history with their incredible season transformation. Star performances fueled the improbable climb.
The Atlanta Hawks have officially earned a playoff series for their impressive turnaround post-All-Star break. After the NBA schedule concluded on Sunday, Atlanta has officially earned the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and will face the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Per Elias Sports, the Hawks finished the regular season with a 46-36 record. At the All-Star break, Atlanta held a 26-30 record. The 2025-26 Hawks are just the third team in NBA history to be 4+ games under .500 at the break and finish the season 10+ games over .500.
Atlanta finished the season with the same record as the Toronto Raptors, but Toronto defeated the Hawks four times early in the season to earn the tiebreaker.
The biggest reasons the Hawks were able to completely turn their season around are because of A. An 11-game winning streak in March, B. Not losing a game at home in the month of March, and C. A soft pocket of the schedule, which Atlanta took full advantage of. Toronto will play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.
Back to the Hawks' impressive turnaround, you also have to give a lot of credit to head coach Quin Snyder, who was handed several new players after the NBA trade deadline. The trades proved to work out, but Atlanta also heavily leaned on Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker as star playmakers.
Since March 1, NAW has averaged 23.9 points per game, and Jalen Johnson received one of the highest honors of Eastern Conference Player of the Month in March.
Atlanta also has very strong role/complementary pieces to Johnson and Alexander-Walker like CJ McCollum, Dyson Daniels, and Jonathan Kuminga.
The Kuminga trade can be looked at as one of the unsung stellar moves at the NBA trade deadline. Once he was acquired, the Hawks started to win, and improve their defensive pressure on a nightly basis.
The NBA world is starting to take notice on how much of a threat the Hawks can be.
