The Hawks have been one of the best teams in the NBA since the All-Star break. They've found their formula.
The Atlanta Hawks are one of the best teams in the NBA. That's a sentence their fans are not accustomed to reading. Yet it's been true since the All-Star break. The Hawks are 11-1 since the midseason festivities, and they've shown no signs of slowing down. Better still, the way they're winning feels completely sustainable.
When the Hawks traded Trae Young, it wasn't hard to figure out why. They felt his defensive shortcomings would always cap their ceiling, and they decided to commit to that end of the floor. Post-All-Star break, that commitment is paying dividends. Their 104.6 defensive rating since the break ranks first in the entire NBA. There has been no room for argument.
The Hawks' excellence on that end should come as no surprise. In some respects, Dyson Daniels is the antithesis of Young. He's among the least impactful offensive starting point guards in the league, but he gives Atlanta a tremendous defensive advantage at the point of attack.
Otherwise, everyone in the rotation besides CJ McCollum is either a wing or has wing-like qualities. This is a roster full of versatile, switchable athletes. McCollum isn't a ball-dominant superstar like Young was. If his defense is hurting the team, the Hawks can simply reduce his minutes.
The Hawks aren't just defending, either. They're playing with general grit. Their 54.5 rebounding percentage since the break ranks second in the league. This team competes for every possession, and it shows. They get into the ball aggressively, they have size and length to not only switch, but to also shift as a defense to take away gaps and cover up mismatches.
So is it sustainable?
Mostly. Atlanta's opponents are shooting 34.6 percent from deep during that stretch, the 10th-lowest mark in the league. Opponent shooting is always a complicated stat — is that pure defensive execution, or does luck play a role? The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. The margins between the Hawks and other teams are slim. The 18th-ranked New York Knicks are allowing opponents to shoot 35.7 percent from deep. Opponents are cold against Atlanta, but that alone doesn't explain everything.
What it does explain is this: the Hawks' defense is real. Assuming Atlanta doesn't make any major moves this summer, that identity should carry into next season.
The Hawks have found a winning formula in the same year they moved their presumptive franchise player. That's exceedingly rare, and it's exactly the type of organizational reset that can turn a team into a perennial contender.
The rest of the Eastern Conference is on notice.