The Atlanta Hawks have been one of the best stories of the first half this year, and they're set to head into the All-Star break with the best record in the league.
Atlanta wasn't one of the preseason favorites - they started out with 100/1 championship odds and were generally picked to finish between 5th and 8th in the East. Their ascendancy under second-year head coach Mike Budenholzer has been fast and astounding, and there aren't many ways teams can hurt Atlanta.
In the interest of full disclosure, we'll start out by saying we think the Hawks are ready to win a Championship this season, and the vast majority of the stats available support that conclusion. If we were going to argue against that point, though, here are the three biggest issues we'd raise:
3. Interior defense
The Hawks have very few weaknesses, but teams are starting to realize they can get more points in the paint on Atlanta than they previously thought. The Hawks have two elite big men in Al Horford and Paul Millsap, but for some reason they're only average at preventing points in the paint (39.7 allowed per game). This isn't a serious problem against the vast majority of the Eastern Conference, but teams with skilled big men are going to capitalize once the playoffs roll around.
2. The lack of rebounding
Atlanta surprisingly ranks 27th out of 30 NBA teams in rebounds per game, and they've masked this deficiency well so far with their excellent shooting. In the playoffs, however, this becomes a much bigger issue as intensity goes up and and big men start seeing extended minutes...and unless Paul Millsap and Al Horford can get some help on the glass, this could be Atlanta's Achilles heel.
1. "The Leap" just doesn't happen this fast
NBA teams go from good to great quickly all the time, but 99% of the time, it takes more than one season at the top to win a title. Going back to 1980, only one team has gone from the middle (or bottom) of the pack to the top in just one year, and joining the 2008 Boston Celtics on that very sparse list would be a massive shock. While Atlanta not making a deep playoff run would also be a major surprise, this core group needs a bit more seasoning before they'll be ready to take home the Larry O'Brien trophy.
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