<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>It's been a long time since the Hawks faced a span more crucial than this one. Their playoff hopes may hang in the balance, despite an 11-game under .500 record, with three games in two days. Welcome to the Eastern Conference, where a 24-35 record is good for ninth place. A mere game behind New Jersey for the final playoff spot. The three games start with Friday's tilt against Charlotte. That will be followed by Saturday's replay and scheduled game against Miami. Win them all and those teetering playoff hopes improve dramatically. Lose one, two or possibly even all three and all that postseason fuss that's been simmering since training camp will lose much of its heat. "This is a huge 24-hour span coming up," Hawks swingman Josh Childress said. "For us being one game out of the eighth spot and being able to make up that ground by winning three games in a 24-hour span is just crucial. That said, we have to focus on each moment of each game and not get ahead of ourselves. "But this is a pivotal point of our season. And more than anything, we've got to remember to have fun. The attitude and the feel right now is like this is the end of the world. But it's not. We've got plenty of games left. We're in a position to make the playoffs and we can't sit and put all kinds of pressure on ourselves. We just have to go out and have fun, because when we do that we always come out fine." The Hawks have been anything but fine lately, going 3-7 since the All-Star break, including their current three-game slide. In the meantime, teams like Philadelphia and New Jersey have passed them. In the Eastern Conference being a season-worst 11 games under .500 doesn't eliminate the Hawks from anything. With 23 games remaining, their playoff push may last into the final days of the season. "We've got to take care of our own business," Marvin Williams said. "We can't keep expecting somebody else to bail us out. It's time now. There's no more time to waste. I look back at this time the last two years and we were playing for nothing. I think everybody needs to remember that. "[Josh Childress] and [Josh Smith] are in their fourth years and this is my third year, and I can tell you I'm not trying to watch the playoffs from the house again. We want to be a part of it." It won't happen without signature wins. The Hawks, who unlike the 76ers (7-3 in their last 10 games), haven't raised their level of play to match their circumstance.</div> Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
