Hawks continue push for guaranteed playoff spot vs. Nets

A month ago, the Atlanta Hawks looked destined to make their fifth straight trip to the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. While the team remains in the ninth spot of the conference standings, a seven-game winning streak has Atlanta searching for a top-six finish.

Enjoying a stretch that will see them play 10 of 11 games at home, the surging Hawks host the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. With a 124-112 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, Atlanta has posted its longest winning streak since a seven-game stretch in January 2022.

The Hawks trail the fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors and the No. 6 Miami Heat by 2 1/2 games apiece.

A win on Thursday would tie the franchise's best mark since winning 19 in a row in the 2014-15 campaign (the Hawks also won eight straight in March 2021). For first-time All-Star Jalen Johnson, who leads the club with 23.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game, the idea is not to put pressure on continuing the stretch but to just find ways to win each game.

"I think the biggest thing is just taking it one game at a time," Johnson said. "We're not focused on a win streak. That's not our end goal. Our end goal is to make a playoff push and the best way to focus on that is just taking things a game at a time. ... Obviously we're going to have some closer and tougher games. The more we stay together through it, I think it'll be good."

Six of the Hawks' seven consecutive wins have come by double digits. Behind Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is pouring in a career-high 20.0 points per game and CJ McCollum is averaging 18.3 points in 25 games since being acquired from the Washington Wizards in a package that sent away roster mainstay Trae Young.

Helping catapult the team into the postseason conversation has been a lack of injuries since the All-Star break. The lone player on the shelf is Jonathan Kuminga, who averaged 21.3 ppg in his first three games with the Hawks after being traded from Golden State. Kuminga has missed the last three outings with a left knee injury and is questionable for Thursday's game.

Brooklyn, meanwhile, is making a push only towards the NBA Draft lottery. The Nets have dropped 11 of their last 13 games and are on pace for their worst winning percentage (.262) since finishing 20-62 in the 2016-17 season.

The tanking Nets trailed by as many as 43 points in their 138-100 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. With 17 games remaining, Brooklyn will use the final month as a test run for future plans. Head coach Jordi Fernandez had 12 players log double-digit minutes in the most recent lopsided defeat.

"Everybody played a good amount and that's going to keep happening," Fernandez said. "Because we have to make sure we know what we've got. All these guys that are here, we brought them for a reason. ... These games are meaningful because you have to play to get better and compete."

Veteran Michael Porter Jr. leads the Nets with 24.2 points per game followed by Noah Clowney's 12.8 and Nic Claxton's 12.1.