Hawks clinch

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The Hawks.com team, with some help from Hawks PR, the Elias Sports Bureau and NBA Stats, put together a list of fun statistics as it relates to the Hawks clinching a playoff spot:

The Hawks clinched a playoff spot on March 3, the earliest a team has clinched since the 1995-96 Bulls clinched on March 2.  That Chicago team was the one that went an NBA-best 72-10.

Last season the Hawks clinched on April 12.  This season's March 3 date is 41 days earlier.  Quite an improvement.

Atlanta has qualified for the playoffs in each of the past 8 seasons, extending the longest active streak in the Eastern Conference.  Only the San Antonio Spurs (17 straight seasons) have a longer streak, and they are in position to extend that as well.

Just for fun, here is when the past 5 NBA Champions clinched playoff spots:

2010: Lakers clinch March 202011: Mavericks clinch April 92012: Heat clinch April 32013: Heat clinch March 82014: Spurs clinch March 22

Atlanta's 48-12 record is its best 60-game start in franchise history.  The previous best is the 42-18 record that the 1993-94 team posted after 60 contests.

The clinching win over Houston put the Hawks 36 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.

The Hawks are 11-2 against the top 8 teams in the West and an NBA-best 22-8 against teams with winning records.

The Hawks clinched a playoff spot by winning their fifth game in a row Tuesday.  It is the fourth such streak of 5 or more wins this season.

8-awesome-stats-about-the-hawks-clinching-a-playoff-spot

8 Awesome Stats About the Hawks Clinching A Playoff Spot

Many folks, including myself, were confused when the Atlanta Hawks clinched a playoff spot Tuesday night with a win (in amazing come-from-behind fashion by the way) over the Houston Rockets.  After all, the "Magic Number" was 3 going into the game, right?

Technically yes.  The Magic Number is defined as the combined number of wins by a team and losses by the 9th place team needed in order to secure that the team finishes no lower than 8th, thus clinching a playoff spot.  Going into Tuesday night's game, the 9th place team (Hornets) had 33 losses, meaning they could finish with 49 wins maximum.  That would need the (then) 47-win Hawks would need 3 more to ensure they finish ahead of Charlotte.  

So what happened?  How did the Magic Number go from 3 before the game to 0 after?

The answer is because of the remaining games between the three teams in question:  Miami, Brooklyn and Charlotte.

The Heat play the Nets and Hornets once more each, while the Nets and Hornets play each other twice.  Remember, the Hawks, now with 48 wins after Tuesday, need only 1 of these 3 teams to finish with 35 losses to clinch.  Every possible scenario in those 4 games results in 1 of the 3 teams losing at least twice.  

So even without tiebreakers, the Hawks have clinched because the 9th place team is guaranteed to have no fewer than 35 losses even if the standings show only 33 right now.

Turns out the "Magic Number" was actually only 1 all along.

Hawks clinch

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