By now you know all about how the Atlanta Hawks have become the Greatest Team to Ever Play Basketball. Nineteen wins in a row. Wins in 33 of their last 35 games. Owners of the NBA's top offensive rating (124), fifth-best defensive rating (94.3) and second-best net rating (29.7). They have three All-Stars (Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap) and a fourth player, Kyle Korver, who probably should have also been named to the team. The Toronto Raptors, the No. 2 team in the East, trail Atlanta by seven games.

It's been an exciting time for the Hawks franchise and its fans. It's also one that is in jeopardy of coming to an end.

Here are the Hawks' next four games: at New Orleans Monday night, home against the Wizards Wednesday night, home against the Warriors (!) Friday night, at the Grizzlies on Sunday night. That is a brutal a four-game stretch.

It begins Monday with a game that should not be overlooked. The Pelicans are now 25-22 after winning five of six and have the NBA's player efficiency rating leader in Anthony Davis set to return from injury. New Orleans is an impressive 16-6 at home and has won seven of its last 10 games, including Friday's victory against the streaking Clippers without Davis.

The next game on the schedule might be the easiest. The Wizards are 31-17 and an impressive 13-10 on the road. Still, they've lost to the Hawks twice this year and only seven teams in the league are allowing opposing backcourts to score fewer points per game than the Hawks, according to HoopsStats.com. That does not bode well for the Washington attack, which is predicated on the creativity of guards John Wall and Bradley Beal.

But the Warriors on Friday pose a major problem for Atlanta. While the Hawks' defense has been great this season, it's also allowed opponents to shoot a league-hight 26 three-pointers per game. Part of what makes the Hawks so great is that they only allow opponents to hit 34 percent of these shots, the seventh-best number in the NBA. Still: employing said strategy against a team who's second best shooter can do this...

... falls under the category of playing with fire.

Say the Hawks somehow manage to emerge from those three games with their winning streak intact. The last step: beating the streaking Memphis Grizzlies, winners of six in a row, in their building. With Zach Randolph in the lineup, Memphis has gone 31-8. They came close to beating the Hawks on the road without Randolph earlier this month.

The Timberwolves and Celtics (both road games) come after that. If Atlanta is able to make it to that Minnesota game on Feb. 9 with its win streak intact (at that point it would be at 23), there should be absolutely no doubt they are the best team in the league.

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