The Atlanta Hawks are heading back to the playoffs — and it’s been a long time coming. After back-to-back postseason misses, Atlanta finally punched their ticket to the 2025 NBA playoffs following a dominant 124-102 home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. The win pushed the Hawks to a 46-35 record, securing their first playoff berth since the 2022-23 season.
It hasn’t been a smooth ride, though. The Hawks started the year in rough shape, sitting at just 18-21 when they made the bold decision to trade long-time franchise cornerstone Trae Young to the Washington Wizards on 9 January. At the time, it looked like a rebuild was on the cards. What happened next, however, told a very different story.
Atlanta didn’t crumble — they evolved. Rather than spiralling into a tank job, the Hawks rediscovered their identity and quietly became one of the most exciting offensive outfits in the Eastern Conference. The shift in momentum was real, and it built into something no one outside Atlanta truly expected.
Atlanta Hawks Clinch Playoff Spot Behind Jalen Johnson’s Breakout Season
The engine driving all of this has been Jalen Johnson, who put together his first All-Star campaign in commanding fashion. After injury-disrupted seasons threatened to define his early career, Johnson stayed healthy this year — appearing in 72 games — and delivered a near-triple-double average of 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game. He’s been the heartbeat of this team, and the Hawks have built their offence around him with real intent.
As a unit, Atlanta ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring at 118.5 points per game — a staggering figure for a side that was widely written off mid-season. That firepower didn’t come from one source either. The contributions spread throughout the roster in ways few predicted.
Perhaps the most jaw-dropping individual story of Atlanta’s turnaround has been Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The guard arrived from the Minnesota Timberwolves having averaged just 9.4 points per game last season. In Atlanta, he’s averaging 20.8 points per game — more than double his previous output and well above his career-high of 13 points. In seven NBA seasons, he’d never come close to this kind of production. The Hawks gave him a platform, and he seized it completely.
Adding further steel to the backcourt is CJ McCollum, who came to Atlanta as part of the Trae Young trade package. Since pulling on the Hawks jersey, McCollum has averaged 18.7 points per game and brought the kind of composure and experience that a young, reshaped team desperately needed. His influence in the locker room and on the floor cannot be overstated.
The turning point of the season came between 22 February and 18 March, when the Hawks went on an 11-game winning streak — their longest run of the season and the stretch that truly announced their playoff credentials to the rest of the league. That run silenced the doubters and gave the team genuine belief heading into the postseason.
Before the first-round tips off, Atlanta still has business to finish in the regular season. The Hawks return to action on Sunday against the Miami Heat, with a chance to carry their momentum into the postseason on the right foot. Their playoff run is set to begin on either Saturday, 19 April or Sunday, 20 April, depending on final seedings.
What this Hawks squad has built since mid-January is genuinely impressive — a rebuilt roster, a new identity, and a hunger to prove that this playoff appearance is just the beginning. If Johnson continues to perform at this level, and role players like Alexander-Walker and McCollum stay sharp, Atlanta could cause serious problems for whoever they face in the first round.