On May 15, The Hawks clinched their first Southeast Division title since 2014–15 when the Miami Heat lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 122–108.
The Hawks surprised many on their playoff run as they went on to defeat the fourth seeded New York Knicks in five games in the first round.
[2] Then in a major upset, the Hawks defeated the top seeded Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals; two of their victories involved coming back from large deficits.
[3] However, their run would come to an end as they lost in six games to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals, coached by former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, who had led them to the Eastern Conference finals in 2015.
[4] The team is similar to the 1977–78 Seattle SuperSonics, as both teams struggled early on, made a coaching change, got a better record to surge up the standings, and had an unexpectedly deep playoff run.