Hawks continue post-All-Star surge with blowout win

The move may have helped the confidence of last year's No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher. He's rediscovered his outside shot since moving to the reserves, shooting 45.8 percent from deep with the Hawks second unit.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker delivers on both ends of the court

The biggest revelation in the Hawks' recent hot streak is the play of Alexander-Walker. He had 32 points against the Magic on only 16 shots. NAW made five three-pointers and seemed to throw the Magic defense into chaos when he made moves to the hoop.

The Hawks may have made the NBA's best free-agent signing when they inked Alexander-Walker to a three-year, $44.7M deal. He's averaging a career-high 20.6 points and shooting 39.4 percent from three-point range while playing strong defense on the perimeter and interior.

Essentially, the Hawks made two key midseason decisions. They replaced the injured Young with McCollum, making the move early in January instead of waiting until the trade deadline. They also cut bait on offseason acquisitions Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard in exchange for less glamorous players who fit better with the young, running Hawks.

With two games remaining against the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers, the Hawks still have an outside chance at home court in their first-round series — possibly huge for a team with a 13-game home winning streak.

The way the Hawks are playing defense and scoring, no playoff team will want to face them, home or away. It took most of the season, but the preseason Hawks supporters have been proven correct about the team.