Atlanta Hawks Championship Odds Increase After Last Night's Victory

Believe.

Eight days ago, computer models seemed to have a hunch about the Atlanta Hawks chances in the Play-In Tournament. With two regular season games remaining, ESPN gave the Hawks a 55.6% chance of advancing to the Playoffs, while FiveThirtyEight gave them a 61% chance. 

While that's not much better than a coin flip, it was still better than the 47.5% and 43% odds given to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were eliminated last night. So clearly, the algorithms are on to something.

So here's where we are at as of this morning. FiveThirtyEight now gives the Hawks the following chances:

• 32% chance of making Conference Semi-Finals

• 13% chance of making Conference Finals

• 2% chance of making NBA Finals

• 0.8% chance of winning NBA Finals

I get it. You are probably thinking those are long odds. While that's true, they have increased dramatically in a little over one week. Even better, there is initial optimism surrounding Clint Capela's knee injury, and John Collins still could return this season.

Oh, and the Hawks have the best point guard the Eastern Conference has seen since prime Allen Iverson. Give me those odds and I'll take my chances with this team in a 7-game series. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.

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