Streaking Hawks coming together at just the right time with a 7-game winning streak

ATLANTA (AP) — After a season of jarring change and inconsistent play, the Atlanta Hawks appear to be coming together at just the right time.

The Hawks won their seventh straight game — the team's longest streak since the 2021-22 season and best active run in the NBA — by holding off the woeful Dallas Mavericks 124-112 on Tuesday night.

It wasn't pretty, but was just the kind of effort the Hawks needed as they try to escape a fifth straight trip to the play-in tournament.

“We're becoming more mature,” said Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who scored 29 points against the Mavericks. “The way we've won some of these games in this stretch have been really good, because we're proving that we can respond in the middle, like that adjustment period that needs to be made. We're handling runs better. Our unity is more cohesive as a group, and it shows.”

Cohesive would not be a word to describe this season. The Hawks came in with high hopes, but injuries and illnesses deprived them of key players Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis for long stretches. Atlanta struggled at home and tumbled under .500 with a seven-game skid in December.

Both Young and Porzingis have since been traded away, signaling yet another new era for a franchise that has largely been a remote outpost on the NBA landscape.

Atlanta is now led by Jalen Johnson, who made his first All-Star Game appearance this season, joined by Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels.

All three came up big in the latest victory, in which the Hawks struggled to put away a Dallas team in full tanking mode with 18 losses in its last 20 games.

But, after the Mavericks tied the game at 97 with just over nine minutes remaining, the Hawks took control. Alexander-Walker hit back-to-back 3-pointers that essentially sealed the victory. Johnson had 27 points and eight assists. Daniels contributed 14 points and 10 assists while stifling Dallas rookie star Cooper Flagg.

“We found a way to get stops, found a way to band together,” Alexander-Walker said.

Alexander-Walker has blossomed in his first season with the Hawks after spending much of his career in a backup role.

He credited his teammates for giving “me that confidence to just continue to shoot, continue to play the game, make the reads. Their reactions to whether or not that was a great (read) or not have been a relief to me. To just be able to play and not look over my shoulder, I just feel free."

Already recognized for his defensive prowess, Daniels has assumed many of the playmaking duties once held by Young, recording 50 assists with just four turnovers in the last seven games.

“Dyson has been huge for us, not just during this winning streak but over the whole year,” Johnson said. “Dyson brings pretty much every aspect to the game. He's somebody who's always willing to get better, always willing to learn.”

Before the Hawks get too carried away, it's worth noting that only one victory in their current streak has come against an opponent with a winning record.

Johnson recognizes that this team is still a work in progress. The Hawks are only ninth in the East and remained 2 1/2 games behind sixth-place Miami for the final guaranteed playoff spot.

“We're not focused on the winning streak. That's not the end goal,” Johnson said. “The end goal is to make a playoff push.”

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Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots against Dallas Mavericks forward Marvin Bagley III, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker shoots during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) dunks against Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) and guard Max Christie (00) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Four-time Olympian Alina Muller of Switzerland is leaving behind her college and pro hockey career in Boston by signing a three-year contract Saturday with the PWHL’s expansion team in Hamilton, Ontario.

Muller will be joined in Hamilton by Montreal defender and rookie of the year finalist Nicole Gosling, who also signed a three-year standard agreement.

San Jose made a splash by signing New York forward Kristin O’Neill to a two-year Foundational Offer, guaranteeing the 28-year-old Canadian Olympian at least $100,000 per season. O’Neill made $86,872 last year, and is reunited with former Team Canada coach Troy Ryan, who doubles as San Jose’s coach and GM.

Each of the four expansion franchises are allowed one foundational signing, with Daryl Watts landing a four-year deal in Detroit on Friday.

Earlier in the day, San Jose also signed New York forward Anne Cherkowski to a two-year contract.

The moves come on Day 2 of the second phase of the PWHL’s three-day expansion process, in which the new teams will add five players.

Hamilton, San Jose, and Detroit have now signed four players, with Las Vegas the only new team to not yet complete a signing. Under the rules, New York and Seattle have now lost a maximum of three players during this phase.

The 28-year-old Muller has spent her adult life in Boston following a five-year college career at Northeastern and the past three seasons with the Fleet. Selected third overall by Boston in the league’s inaugural 2023 draft, Muller was the PWHL's first non-North American player selected.

Her 56 PWHL career points (16 goals, 40 assists) lead all Fleet and non-North American players.

Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer grew emotional on Thursday when discussing the possibility of losing Muller. With the eight existing teams allowed to protect only three players each, Marmer said she was left with little choice in filling those spots with captain Megan Keller, rookie of the year finalist Haley Winn and goalie of the year finalist Aerin Frankel ahead of Muller.

Muller has also shined on the international stage in having scored Switzerland’s two Olympic bonze medal-clinching goals, including the overtime-winner over Sweden at the Milan Cortina Games in February.

Gosling is coming off a Walter Cup championship season in Montreal. She was selected fourth overall in the draft last year, and finished tied for first among rookie defenders with 19 points (three goals, 16 assists).

The 24-year-old Gosling also gets an opportunity to move closer to her hometown of London, Ontario.

O'Neill is now on her third PWHL team after spending her first two seasons in Montreal. She ranked fourth in the league last season with 272 faceoff wins while scoring four goals and an assist in 30 games. Overall, O'Neill has nine goals and 10 assists in 83 career games.

O’Neill is from Oakville, Ontario, and played collegiately at Cornell.

AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

FILE - Toronto Sceptres goaltender Raygan Kirk saves a shot from Montreal Victoire's Kristen O'Neill during the first period of a PWHL hockey game in Toronto, Dec. 21, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP, File)