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

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:

Here is a look at the Hawks' remaining schedule

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.