Even though they had the day off, the Atlanta Hawks were a missed jumper away from having the best record in basketball Sunday afternoon.

Instead, Hedo Turkoglu missed a step-back jumper and the Toronto Rapters fell 101-100 to Phoenix giving the Suns a 9-2 record, one win more than Atlanta. Nonetheless, the Hawks do currently own the best record in the Eastern Conference.

With a blowout win over Denver and quality road wins at Portland and at their semi-rival Boston, the Hawks have shown they could be a team to be reckoned with come playoff time this season. Could this just be the latest progression in this continually growing and maturing team? 

After going 15-33 against teams with a record above .500 two seasons ago, they improved to 21-30 last season. They are currently 5-1 this season against teams with winning records and are doing exactly what helped them get out to a quick start last season -- playing TEAM basketball.

Last season, the team got out to a 6-0 start, but then struggled to cope with injuries due to limited depth. This season, however, they appear to be capable of sustaining their strong play even if a player were to go down. It isn't necessarily all about the starting five and, in particular, Joe Johnson.

In fact, Atlanta's second leading scorer is coming off the bench. Jamal Crawford has given the Hawks another verifiable scoring option to complement Joe Johnson, and most importantly, Crawford puts points on the board night in and night out -- something that Josh Smith and Marvin Williams have yet to do in their young careers.

Speaking of Smith, he has been one of the most dynamic players in the league, and as Lang Whitaker points out, he is playing like a "NBA star." He is averaging 16 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and more than 2 1/2 blocks per game; is not turning the ball over like has been a problem in the past; and he is shooting a career-high 59 percent from the field -- a stat that is at least partially derived from him not attempting any three-point shots. He finally seems to have learned that if he stays in the paint, he can be a star...and he's actually doing it.

Mike Bibby also continues to make contributions even though it may not show up as much in the boxscore. The veteran is leading the team from a supplementary role dishing out assists to Johnson and Crawford rather than taking the big shots he formerly knocked down with ease. Bibby is still one of five Hawks averaging over 11 points per game. He also has been the Hawks deadliest outside shooter making 46 percent of his three point attempts.

And the exciting part for Hawks' fans is that Atlanta could be better.

Williams has gotten off to a terribly slow start shooting only 39 percent from the field, including only 4 of 17 from beyond the arc after he ranked in the top five for three point shooting percentage at the beginning of the year last season. Williams is currently only averaging nine points per game, which is five points less than what he has averaged over the last three seasons. Part of the decline in his numbers is fewer minutes due to Crawford's presence, but Williams is also in a shooting funk. If he can get back into rhythm and rookie Jeff Teague continues to mature and develop over the course of the season, the Hawks could be legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference come playoff time.

Shotgun Spratling

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