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Hawks' win, Celtics' loss provides a little breathing room

The Atlanta Hawks grabbed a much needed win over the Milwaukee Bucks and got a little breathing room in the Eastern Conference standings.

USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta's win over the Milwaukee Wednesday night gave them a 3.5 game cushion over the eight seeded Bucks. The two teams will face each other two more times this season including Sunday's matchup in Milwaukee. Atlanta got a little bit of help on Wednesday as the New Orleans Hornets shocked the Boston Celtics with a late tip in to grab a 87-86 win. That increased the Hawks' lead over the Celtics to 1.5 games. New York and Brooklyn both won on Wednesday while the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers were idle.

Atlanta remains in fifth place in the East two games back of Brooklyn and three back of New York. The Hawks hold a one game advantage over the Bulls who are sixth.

Important scores of note from Wednesday:

New York 106, Orlando 94

New Orleans 87, Boston 86

Brooklyn 113, Dallas 96

Here is a look at up to the minute Eastern Conference Standings:


Eastern Standings

GP W-L PCT
Miami Heat 67 53-14 .791
Indiana Pacers 68 42-26 .618
New York Knicks 66 40-26 .606
Brooklyn Nets 68 40-28 .588
Atlanta Hawks 68 38-30 .559
Chicago Bulls 66 36-30 .545
Boston Celtics 67 36-31 .537
Milwaukee Bucks 67 34-33 .507
Philadelphia 76ers 67 26-41 .388
Toronto Raptors 68 26-42 .382
Washington Wizards 67 24-43 .358
Detroit Pistons 69 23-46 .333
Cleveland Cavaliers 68 22-46 .324
Orlando Magic 69 18-51 .261
Charlotte Bobcats 68 16-52 .235

Here is a look at the Hawks' remaining schedule


Hawks Schedule



Portland Fri 03/22 7:30 PM EDT
@ Milwaukee Sun 03/24 3:00 PM EDT
@ Indiana Mon 03/25 7:00 PM EDT
@ Toronto Wed 03/27 7:00 PM EDT
@ Boston Fri 03/29 7:30 PM EDT
Orlando Sat 03/30 7:00 PM EDT
Cleveland Mon 04/01 7:30 PM EDT
New York Wed 04/03 7:00 PM EDT
Philadelphia Fri 04/05 7:30 PM EDT
@ San Antonio Sat 04/06 8:30 PM EDT
@ Philadelphia Wed 04/10 7:00 PM EDT
Milwaukee Fri 04/12 7:30 PM EDT
Toronto Tue 04/16 7:30 PM EDT
@ New York Wed 04/17 8:00 PM EDT

With another road trip looming the Hawks can't afford to mail in any performances like they did in Monday's loss to the Dallas Mavericks. If they can take care of business at home and steal a couple of games on the road then they have a good opportunity to keep the pressure on the Nets and the Knicks in the standings.