Five consecutive seasons the Hawks have made the playoffs.
Five more seasons than anyone predicted for this bunch the day they made the postseason back in 2008, when they backed in, to so speak, on their way to that epic first-round series with the eventual champion Boston Celtics.
But here they are after Monday's 109-87 win over the Raptors in Toronto, the clincher the Hawks needed to secure their spot for this postseason.
This might be the Hawks' most remarkable season during this five-year stretch, given the injury issues they've had to deal with during this abbreviated and condensed NBA season. All-Star center Al Horford missed all but 11 games with a torn pectoral muscle that might or might not prevent him from returning for the postseason.
All-Star guard Joe Johnson has had an up and down season, struggling with injuries and bouts of flat play throughout a season that has seen Josh Smith surpass them both for the top spot on the Hawks' food chain this season.
Jeff Teague finally asserted himself as the team's starting point guard. Plus an unheralded and generally over-the-hill cast of reserves have proved to be better and more reliable than anyone might have imagined they'd be when they were busy signing one-year deals to join the Hawks.
Hawks coach Larry Drew is in his second season, but doesn't have a contract beyond the last day of this season, whenever that comes, adding another dose of subtle pressure to the Hawks' situation.
"It's old hat for us now," Smith said. "We just go out there and grind and play up to our own expectations every night. We expect to make the playoffs, not that it's something to take lightly or anything, but this is what we expect to do."
NOTES, QUOTES
-Not all of the news today was good for the Hawks.
The foot injury that sidelined Zaza Pachulia for the back-to-back set with the Raptors could wind up costing the Hawks' fill-in for Horford the remainder of the (regular) season. Pachulia's injury turned out to be worse than diagnosed, though the Hawks declined comment.
Pachulia, however, took to Twitter.
"Staying confident and hoping to return ASAP," he tweeted during the game. "We will wait and see how it goes. I'm still hoping to be back this season."
-He's a bit on the short side, but if the Hawks need anyone to replace Pachulia's energy and effort in the coming days, they have reserve big man Ivan Johnson.
The resident wild man scored a career-high and team-high 21 points to go with his 8 rebounds. Johnson made 9 of his 13 shots from the floor and silenced his critics who were busy trashing him after he was sent home from Orlando last week for conduct detrimental to the team.
The fact is, Johnson is the Hawks' most valuable big-man commodity off the bench, he has been all season and will be in the postseason.
So whatever issues he has or had, the Hawks need to put it all in rearview and make sure he's mentally and physically ready for whatever comes next.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"It's good to have that playoff bid locked up and taken care of now. I remember when we had to go into the final week, the final days really, of the season to find out if we made it or not. This is much better." -- Drew on clinching the playoff bid now as opposed to sometime next week.
