The Hawks According to the league, are the first team from the Eastern Conference to advance to the knockout round of the 2024 NBA Cup (Twitter link).
Despite being in a crowded group alongside the conference's top two teams (Cleveland and Boston), they secured their spot atop the East Group C standings with a win over the Cavaliers on Friday night.
Atlanta also defeated Boston in the opening game of the NBA Cup on November 12, giving the Hawks the tiebreaker advantage Celtics after both teams finished the group game with a 3-1 record.
The Celtics still have a chance to join the Hawks as the East's wild card team in the quarterfinals, but that depends on the outcome of Tuesday's Bucks/Pistons and Magic/Knicks games. All four of these teams are 3-0 so far, so the two who win on Tuesday will finish at the top of their respective groups, while the losers (except the Knicks) could still clinch the wild card spot based on point difference.
The Hawks join the Warriors and Rockets as teams that have secured spots in the knockout round of the NBA Cup. None of these three clubs reached the quarterfinals of the NBA's first regular-season tournament last year.
The knockout round begins on December 10th.
