The Atlanta Hawks enjoyed a travel day on Tuesday, but events around the NBA had a direct impact on the team’s near-term future. While Atlanta already won East Group C as part of the 2024 NBA Cup, the team’s next step in that event was uncertain until the results of Tuesday’s action.
Ultimately, the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, and Orlando Magic clinched trips to the quarterfinals in the East, joining the Hawks in the four-team battle on one side of tehe NBA Cup bracket. The Hawks will face the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7:00 pm ET, with the winner taking on either the Bucks or Magic in the semifinal in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 14.
If the Hawks do not win that game in New York, they will face either the Bucks or Magic in a make-up game at State Farm Arena on Sunday, Dec. 15.
What a schedule
There may be more difficult stretches when it comes to opponent quality, but the Hawks are about to enter perhaps their most high-profile gauntlet of the season. On Wednesday, Atlanta faces the Milwaukee Bucks in a battle between the two Eastern Conference teams with the longest active winning streaks.
From there, the Hawks return home to face LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. While the Lakers are not a top-tier team right now, the NBA’s most popular franchise brings with it a different level of attention. Then, the Hawks take on Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Sunday evening in Atlanta before heading to New York for the team’s first national TV game of the season in the NBA Cup quarterfinal.
Needless to say, the Hawks will learn a lot about themselves in the next week and, well, the national public will learn more about the Hawks as well.
