A month ago, the Hawks were the fourth place seed in the Eastern Conference and Miami, seeded fifth, was trying to close the gap.

Oh, how a difference a month makes.

Lately, the Heat (and the rest of the Association) have discovered that Dwayne Wade can not carry the team on his own for the entire season. While the Heat have been struggling, another team has been surging: The Philadelphia 76ers.

As luck would have it, the Hawks were in Philadelphia on Tuesday night to take on the 76ers. The game would mark the first of the remaining eight games, five of which would be away from Philips Arena. The Hawks have 22 losses on the road entering the Philadelphia game.

Make that 23 road losses. Make that a 14-23 road record this season while enjoying a 29-9 record at home.

It was an easy win for Philadelphia. All they did was shut down Joe Johnson and hold him to 11 points. Usually when Joe is shut down, the other Hawks will “step it up” and get a victory. No so on Tuesday. Joe and the Hawks couldn’t handle Philadelphia’s defense. Yes, Josh had 33 points and Murray contributed with 19, but where was Bibby (7 pts.) and Horford (4 pts.)?

The Hawks TV announcers after the game said that this could be a potential first-round matchup. If that ’s the case then coach Woodson needs to say/do something to motivate these guys.

But since it will be the playoffs, shouldn’t that be motivation enough?