As the Hawks head into the calendar year of 2022, it makes sense to take stock of what they accomplished over the 12 months of 2021.
The answer: They accomplished a lot.
Whether you prefer Trae Young's victorious bow in Madison Square Garden, Kevin Huerter's closeout Game 7 in Philadelphia, or John Collins' repeated onslaught on NBA rims, all those ingredients combined into a season where the Hawks went deeper into the playoffs than they had since the franchise moved to Atlanta: winning two games of the Conference Finals against the eventual NBA champs.
If the Hawks' current 16-19 win-loss record is not what the team had hoped for the second half of 2021, it compares to where the team sat after 35 games last season when they held a 15-20 record.