Much has been said, and deservedly so, about the new motion offense coach Mike Budenholzer brought to the Atlanta Hawks after 17 seasons as an assistant in San Antonio.

The old staples of pick-and-pop with Al Horford and Paul Millsap remain but there’s even more motion off the ball than during Larry Drew’s tenure. Kyle Korver’s absurd shooting accolades have drawn a lot of deserved attention. The offensive balance is increasingly evident, as seven different Hawks have led the team in scoring in the last seven games.

But the team is winning on the other side of the ball, plain and simple. Defense is winning games.

As of December 24, the Hawks have the 8th best defensive rating, points given up per 100 possessions, via Basketball Reference. The majority of the credit can be given to the perimeter defense. The Hawks have the 7th best opponent three point defense, holding teams to 33.6% shooting from there. This is a stark improvement from last season’s marks of 10th worst three point defense (36.5%).

This improvement can be partially attributed to the additions of long and active defenders Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore in the offseason. They join tough-nosed defender DeMarre Carroll and an always active Kyle Korver to make for a feared presence around the arc.

On the interior, the general perception is that a team needs a 7 foot shot blocking center to field a great defense. But in an era of small ball where big men are often require to guard out to the three point line, that just is not true anymore. The Hawks have no prototypical 7 foot paint defenders and only two players with regular playing time above 6’8”, Pero Antic and Al Horford.

Only Al Horford records more than a block per contest and as a percentage of possessions, among qualified players, Horf is the only Hawk that ranks in the top 45 of players around the league. Erasing shots is not their forte, and that’s perfectly fine.

Defense is about limiting good shots by reducing the number of opportunities the opponent has to score. For one, they are 3rd in the amount of free throws given up per shot. Playing defense, especially the active brand of defense Coach Bud wills his players to carry out, without fouling is a difficult feat. But the Hawks have a number of veterans who have seen the many tricks of the trade and are not biting on obvious attempts to get to the line.

A common criticism of the Hawks a week ago was that they had beaten up on lesser competition and had not played the top flight teams in the NBA. Today, Atlanta is fresh off of stifling the 2nd, 3rd and 4th most efficient offenses in the league in the past week, with two of those on the road.

The Hawks went into Cleveland last Wednesday and blew them out of their own arena. Against Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and the potent Cavaliers offense, the Hawks took control in the 3rd quarter.

With the Hawks having so many flexible defenders, they can switch almost any pick-and-roll without feat of getting exposed. Al Horford is a center by trade, but for a few seconds he can bother a guard more than any big man should.

In this possession, the Cavs set a double side screen for Kyrie Irving. Kyle Korver is able to recover back to Matthew Dellavedova so the Cavs swing it around for a Lebron-Varejao pick-and-roll. Paul Millsap switches to Lebron, a capable assignment for him that most power forwards would not handle well, and a couple of passes finds Tristan Thompson down low. This is an area in which the Hawks defense excels. Atlanta packs the lane, allowing no easy shots near the rim.

The possession ends with an open Dellavedova three, not ideal though he is only shooting 34.4% from deep, but the plan was to make someone other than Kyrie or Lebron beat you. The Hawks also show they can turn defense into offense in a hurry, as Schröder beats the Cavs down the court for a layup.

A bit later in the third quarter, the Cavs have a semi-transition opportunity but Pero Antic and the rest of the Hawks recover well enough to slow the attack. Dion Waiters notices he has the 6’11” Antic on him and calls a clearout but Pero recognizes this as well. He points to Millsap for some help as he prepares to force Waiters toward the baseline. From here on, watch as the Hawks play brilliant scramble defense. They’re still content to pack the lane and let DeMarre Carroll roam around the arc, as his length and close out speed still adds some pressure on Cleveland’s shooters.

Now take a look at these next two from the Clippers game on Tuesday night. For most of the night, it was not the Hawks best defensive effort, Atlanta really turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter. Not only do the Hawks do a good job of packing the paint, out on the perimeter they show the ability to fight through screens and affect mid-range shooters, even if they have to do it from behind the shooter. First Teague, then Thabo Sefolosha both fight through top of the key screens and get a hand on the ball to the reward of the Hawks defense.

The Hawks have both a top 10 offense and defense in terms of efficiency, and with their 21-7 record, Atlanta is on pace for 61.5 wins this season. These are the hallmarks of a title contender, especially in an Eastern Conference with a lot of question marks. They are even projected to have the best record in the conference by objective statistical methods provided by John Hollinger. There’s no doubt these Hawks are for real, and their defense will be the one to determine its ultimate fate.

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