Hawks clinch top-4 seed, home-court advantage in 1st round

As a result of the Boston Celtics' 114-100 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night, the Atlanta Hawks have clinched a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference, and will therefore have home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Hawks have qualified for the playoffs each of the last nine seasons, but have only gone past the second round on one occasion. With a franchise record of 60 wins, the 2014-15 Hawks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals before falling to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a clean sweep.

It was those same Cavaliers who put away the Hawks rather convincingly Monday at Quicken Loans Arena in a 109-94 victory. James and Kyrie Irving combined for 69 points, while Kent Bazemore led Atlanta with 23 of his own, including six rebounds and three steals in just 26 minutes.

The Hawks (48-33) own a half-game lead over the Miami Heat (47-33) for the No. 3 spot in the East, and are a full game up on the Celtics (47-34). By owning the tiebreaker over both the Celtics and Hornets (47-34), Atlanta can't drop any lower than the fourth seed.

The Hawks will finish off their regular season Wednesday when they hit the road to battle the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.