We’re at about the quarter-pole in the long haul that is the NBA regular season, which paves the way for what can seem like an even longer playoff run. All of which is to say we can’t get too excited about an early results, but the first returns do suggest the NBA Eastern Conference is headed for a historically bad season.
The big surprise at last week’s NBA trade deadline was that Atlanta Hawks power forward Josh Smith stayed put. Smith is in the final year of a contract worth $13.2 million and he’s looking for a max deal for next season. Either Atlanta thinks they can re-sign him or the team thinks it can make an extended playoff run and is shoving its chips on the table for this year. It’s the latter question that will be the focus of our NBA commentary today—can these Atlanta Hawks make a good showing in the postseason?
We’re down to a month left in the NBA regular season, with the race for the Atlantic Division staying red-hot and the jousting for the final spots in the Western Conference still heated. TheSportsNotebook takes an overall look at the standings with an eye to the weekend ahead…