Currently sitting in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, it's fair to say that the Atlanta Hawks have had a tough go of it this season. Following their impressive run to the 2021 East Finals, it was widely expected that they would pick up right where they left off this 2021-22.
However, that hasn't been the case at all for them. They've had their fair share of inconsistencies throughout the early part of the year.
Granted it's still a young season and they still got plenty of time to turn things around, they don't want too much more time to pass before they start to find their groove again. So as they head into their Christmas day match-up with the New York Knicks, we'll now take a look at two things that should be on the Hawks' Christmas wish list this season.
Atlanta Hawks Christmas Wish List
2. Get all of their key rotation players back healthy for the remainder of the season
With a good portion of their roster out of the rotation due to injuries and health and safety protocols, it would be an understatement to say that the Hawks could use all the help they can get.
Plus with Trae Young and Kevin Huerter now set to miss Saturday's showdown with the Knicks due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols and Cam Reddish listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury he suffered in their last game against the Magic, the Hawks will be playing shorthanded for the time being.
For the home stretch of the NBA season, Atlanta will need all their best players back as they aim to make another deep playoff run in 2022. Now that they'll be undermanned for the next few weeks, their biggest wish should be to get all their key rotation players back fully healthy and COVID-free.
1. Return to playing a winning brand of basketball for the rest of the year
Last season the Hawks made drastic strides and improvements under the direction of veteran head coach Nate McMillan. As mentioned, they made an epic run to the Eastern Conference Finals where they'd lose to the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.
If they're hoping to take the next step in 2022 and earn their first NBA Finals appearance since 1961, then they'll need to develop some consistency on both ends of the floor and get back on the winning track once their entire starting line-up returns from injuries and health and safety protocols.
The Hawks have undoubtedly had to deal with a ton of adversity this year, but given the depth and skill that this team possesses, it's hard to imagine them not snapping out their funk and finding their way back into the East playoff picture. They'll certainly have their work cut out for them with so many revamped rosters looking to make a playoff push.
So with all that going for the Hawks, getting more wins and consistently good two-way play from their entire roster should be amongst their Christmas wishes for the 2021-22 NBA season.
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