McMillan transforms Hawks, now looks to win in playoffs

Updated May. 21, 2021 3:21 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Nate McMillan gives a glimpse of his coaching style when he talks about his playing days.

He never cared about the accolades.

Just whatever it took to win.

“A guy who put his nose in everything,” McMillan recalled. “I wasn't a guy who pouted about minutes or rotations or shots or points or any of that. I tried to be a glue guy who made his teammates better.”

He's certainly made the Hawks a lot better since he took over as interim head coach.

Atlanta was plodding along at 14-20 when

McMillan, who had joined Pierce's staff before this season, was elevated to the top post. Since then, the Hawks have been one of the NBA's best teams with a 27-11 record, securing their

The only teams to win more over the final 38 games of the regular season were Phoenix and Denver. The only team to match the Hawks in the East were the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers.

“You see the results,” guard Bogdan Bogdanovic said. “Coaching is a crucial part of our success. A lot of teams are talented in this league, but they're not under control. He did that. He brought a little bit of control to this team. He helped us get our wins.”

McMillan also brought a toughness — the trait he exhibited during a 12-year playing career spent entirely with the Seattle SuperSonics — that the Hawks sorely needed.

Under Pierce, the team continually wilted in the fourth quarter, with 13 of 20 losses by 10 points or less.

The dynamic has totally changed since McMillan took over. Atlanta is 11-5 in games decided by no more than 10 points.

This is a bit of redemption for the 56-year-old, who had previously been a head coach at Seattle, Portland and Indiana.

Then again, McMillan still has to prove he can win in the playoffs.

Last year, after guiding the Pacers to a 45-28 record despite myriad injuries,

“For me, this is a different team and we’re going into the playoffs for the first time with this group,” McMillan said. "Whatever people want to say, I’m not concerned about that. The focus is me getting this team prepared for this playoffs — not validating.”

This is what the Hawks had in mind when they began a major rebuild in 2017, completely overhauling a team that had posted the top record in the East and made it to the conference finals just two seasons earlier.

Focusing on the draft, Atlanta assembled the core of its team — notably, Trae Young and John Collins. After being one of eight teams left out of the bubble in last year's pandemic-affected season, the Hawks had plenty of money to spend in free agency, allowing them to sign Bogdanovich and top bench player Danilo Gallinari. A key trade just before the 2020 shutdown brought in center Clint Capela, who led the NBA in rebounding while averaging more than two blocks a game.

But McMillan, it seems, was the one who brought it all together. In a bit of a surprise, he wasn't among the three finalists for the coach of the year award announced Thursday.

“He helped us a lot,” Capela said. “I just felt like he really he helped a lot of guys to step up, to just be more aggressive defensively and offensively. He really helped a lot of guys. He definitely deserves big credit for the team’s success.”

McMillan's blunt demeanor turned up again as the Hawks prepared to face another resurgent franchise, the New York Knicks, in the opening round. Game 1 is Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

With nearly a week to prepare, McMillan tried to instill an underdog mentality in his team by making it clear he thinks most of the nation — the NBA, even — is rooting for the big-market Knicks to advance.

He even shared his thoughts with reporters.

“I’ve talked about that to the team a lot,” McMillan said. “I’ve gone as far as saying, the league wants this, they need this. New York, this is a big market. It’s a big market for the league. ...This is a team that our league, they want to see, they want to see New York in the playoffs.”

McMillan also implied that the referees will be favoring the Knicks, making it tough for his team to get close calls.

“It’s real. We’re going to have to play through that,” he said. “It’s going to be physical. Probably a lot of calls are not going our way."

by McMillan's comments. He was slapped with a $25,000 fine, adding an entirely new dynamic to the series before it even begins.

McMillan issued a brief statement at the start of his regular media session Friday, insisting his comments were taken out of context and that he wasn't accusing the league of being biased toward the Knicks. He refused to take any questions on the issue.

“We're going to put this behind us,” he said.

Rest assured, McMillan's players have his back.

“Guys listen to him. He has a good presence about himself,” forward De'Andre Hunter said. “He’s a genuine guy. I feel like that’s the best thing for me. He’s genuine.”

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry

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AP Sports Writer Charles Odum contributed to this report.

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