With a little over three weeks left in the NBA regular season, the Eastern Conference playoff picture is still incredibly muddled.
While the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat have raced ahead of the pack to secure the top two seeds, only 5.5 games separate the third place Indiana Pacers from the eight place New York Knicks.
The Atlanta Hawks are directly in the middle of the pack, coming in at sixth place, one game behind the Orlando Magic and 1.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers.
However, thanks to a pretty soft schedule to close out the season, including two games each against the Charlotte Bobcats, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons, ESPN's John Hollinger projects them to get all the way up to the No. 3 slot by the end of the season.
Here are the full Eastern Conference standings as of Wednesday, April 4:
| EASTERN | W | L | PCT | GB | HOME | ROAD | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | DIFF | STRK | L10 | |
| 1 | x - Chicago | 42 | 13 | .764 | - | 21-6 | 21-7 | 10-1 | 31-7 | 96.8 | 88.8 | +8.0 | Lost 2 | 6-4 |
| 2 | x - Miami | 38 | 14 | .731 | 2 ½ | 22-2 | 16-12 | 8-3 | 29-8 | 100.7 | 93.5 | +7.1 | Won 1 | 7-3 |
| 3 | Indiana | 32 | 21 | .604 | 9 | 17-7 | 15-14 | 4-3 | 21-16 | 96.7 | 94.0 | +2.7 | Won 2 | 7-3 |
| 4 | Boston | 30 | 22 | .577 | 10 ½ | 19-8 | 11-14 | 6-4 | 23-12 | 91.6 | 89.8 | +1.8 | Won 5 | 7-3 |
| 5 | Orlando | 32 | 22 | .593 | 9 ½ | 18-10 | 14-12 | 7-5 | 25-14 | 94.3 | 92.7 | +1.6 | Lost 4 | 4-6 |
| 6 | Atlanta | 31 | 23 | .574 | 10 ½ | 17-8 | 14-15 | 8-3 | 24-14 | 94.6 | 93.1 | +1.5 | Lost 1 | 6-4 |
| 7 | Philadelphia | 29 | 24 | .547 | 12 | 19-10 | 10-14 | 4-3 | 22-13 | 93.6 | 88.0 | +5.6 | Lost 1 | 4-6 |
| 8 | New York | 27 | 27 | .500 | 14 ½ | 18-10 | 9-17 | 6-6 | 20-17 | 97.2 | 94.7 | +2.5 | Lost 1 | 7-3 |
 |
||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee | 25 | 28 | .472 | 16 | 12-12 | 13-16 | 5-6 | 19-18 | 98.7 | 98.4 | +0.3 | Won 1 | 6-4 | |
| Detroit | 20 | 33 | .377 | 21 | 14-12 | 6-21 | 3-8 | 15-21 | 90.1 | 95.4 | -5.3 | Won 2 | 4-6 | |
| Toronto | 19 | 35 | .352 | 22 ½ | 11-17 | 8-18 | 4-7 | 11-26 | 91.8 | 95.4 | -3.6 | Won 2 | 4-6 | |
| New Jersey | 19 | 36 | .345 | 23 | 7-19 | 12-17 | 4-4 | 13-25 | 93.0 | 98.5 | -5.5 | Lost 1 | 4-6 | |
| Cleveland | 17 | 34 | .333 | 23 | 9-18 | 8-16 | 3-7 | 9-26 | 93.2 | 99.7 | -6.5 | Lost 8 | 1-9 | |
| Washington | 12 | 41 | .226 | 29 | 7-20 | 5-21 | 2-7 | 8-27 | 93.2 | 100.0 | -6.8 | Lost 2 | 2-8 | |
| Charlotte | 7 | 44 | .137 | 33 | 4-20 | 3-24 | 1-8 | 5-31 | 87.9 | 100.4 | -12.5 | Lost 8 | 1-9 | |
For the latest news and notes on the Hawks, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta and check out Peachtree Hoops.