EASTERN CONFERENCE SOUTHEAST DIVISION Atlanta Quick, name the Eastern Conference team with the longest streak of playoff appearances. Yes, it’s the Atlanta Hawks, who, since ending their nine-year drought in 2007-08 have made a postseason appearance in each of the last seven seasons. Last year, the first under Coach Mike Budenholzer, they nearly upset top-seed Indiana, pushing the Pacers to seven games. And that was without injured center Al Horford. Horford, a two-time All-Star is back healthy, as is All-Star power forward Paul Millsap and hot-shooting veteran two-guard Kyle Korver—both of whom worked out with USA Basketball over the summer—and underrated point Jeff Teague. While offseason turmoil surrounded the team, primarily the front office, and specifically minority owner Bruce Levinson, who was forced to sell his stake, and general manager Danny Ferry, who was suspended, Budenholzer, acting GM, and his Hawks are keeping focused on extending their playoff streak to eight while eyeing a Southeast title. Defense When it came to defense, Hawks could have been short for “Ball Hawks.” Atlanta was a tenacious group that liked to pressure the ball, resulting in their making 8.3 per game (ninth in the League with 8.3 steals per game, fifth in the East and good for second in the Southeast behind only Miami. Atlanta, which had 27 games with double-figure steals, expects to be even better in 2014-15, as one of its main offseason acquisitions was defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha. One of the OKC’s top defensive players, the small forward will back up ferocious defender DeMarre Carroll (1.48 spg, 24th in the League) and add defensive depth to a Hawks team that had four players average better than a steal per game in Millsap (1.74, 9th), Carroll, Jeff Teague (1.13) and Kyle Korver (.99). Their ability to create turnovers STARTERS G Jeff Teague G Kyle Korver C Al Horford F Paul Millsap F DeMarre Carroll BENCH F Pero Antic G Kent Bazemore F Elton Brand G John Jenkins G Shalvin Mack C Mike Muscala F Adreian Payne G Dennis Schroder F Mike Scott F Thabo Sefolosha Paul Millsap
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